Into The Light
by DistortedLullabies
Summary: They were helpless to fight the light that engulfed them, pulling them from all that they had known and leaving them somewhere foreign and new. Now, Tess, Sadie, and Lillian are left to build lives from the ground up in this new land, coming to terms with the changes around them and in themselves. OCs, Kili, Fili, and Thorin.
1. Prologue

The day itself was quite unremarkable. There was no excess gloom, no weeping skies, nor tormented storms. The sun shown weakly throughout the lightly clouded sky, sending out waves of warmth as it traveled across the sky.

As the day turned to night, the warm air from the previous hours still fluttered about the darkness, softly caressing the skin of those wandering in the darkness. The weather was warm and soothing, the wind carrying with it the promise of a pleasant summer.

It was an evening of reprieve for the three friends as they strolled through the downtown district that was filled with various bars and clubs. The night was to be spent in joy and mirth, forgetting the realities of their lives, if only for a few hours. The warm night gave them the opportunity to rejoice, something that they had nearly forgotten how to do. The world had made them weary, much too weary for their youth.

The eldest watched her two friends with a concerned eye all throughout the night. Her heart felt heavy with worry, as if warning her that something was coming. She'd always done her best to look out for them and protect them if she could, even when it meant protecting them from themselves. She'd had to give more than one lecture for foolish behavior which seemed to be becoming a habit for the two. It seemed that the stress of life had only hindered their abilities to think through their actions.

She was unable to sulk, however, as she was sucked into their merriment. Tonight was not about worrying of what had passed or what was to come. Tonight was for them to celebrate being alive and persevering.

"Oh they've stopped the karaoke," the shortest and youngest of the group pouted, glaring at the DJ as he began to pack up his equipment. That was no fun; that had been the reason this bar had been chosen. They wanted to drink themselves into bliss, and then annoy the other patrons of their awful, drunken renditions of hit songs.

"Looks like it's time to find another bar then," the tallest grinned cheekily, throwing back the rest of her drink even has her companions both winced. She was going to be a stumbling mess by the end of the night. The girl sat down her cup and left a bill on the bar as payment before ushering her two friends out. "Let's go then, we've got lots of drinking left to do."

"Hey Sadie," the shorter girl whispered to her older friend who was watching the third stumbling out of the bar in amusement. "Ten bucks says Tessa ends up throwing up in the next place's bathroom before last call."

The older girl looked at her friend with a small smirk on her face. It was a reasonable bet, it wouldn't be the first time that had happened, and with Tessa's problems at home and with her family, she was likely to try to drink her misery away tonight. But Sadie had noticed something her friend hadn't.

"She hasn't had vodka tonight," she grinned, clapping her friend on the shoulder and chuckling when her smile dropped. "You're on."

"Fuck," the short girl groaned to herself. There went ten dollars.

"Would you two hurry your asses up?!" Tessa hollered from the middle of the street, the flimsy material of her dress whipping about her in the warm spring wind. "Your legs are short Lillian, but not short enough to make you this slow!"

"Hey now!" her friend replied indignantly, suddenly taking more hurried, determined steps to catch up with her friend. "That was just uncalled for! You know-"

It was then that Sadie saw it, the reason that she had felt so unsettled the entire night. A bright, luminous light was barreling toward her two friends, ready to consume them.

"No!" she screamed, leaping toward them to try to push them away from the surrounding light. It was so bright, so very bright. She couldn't see anything. She hit the ground hard, next to her two friends, and let out a sob of fear as she saw the shadows of approaching figures.

_And I still believe in the good_  
_And I still believe in the light_  
_And I wanna feel the sun_  
_I wanna free you tonight_  
_And I still believe in the good_  
_And I still believe in the light_  
_And I wanna feel the sun_  
_I wanna free you tonight_


	2. Chapter 1

The gentle falling of rain was what woke Tessa from the slumber that had overcome her. Her eyes fluttered open, but closed just as quickly when a fat rain drop hit her in the middle of her forehead. Rolling herself onto her side, she felt slick blades of grass beneath her, not the hard concrete that she had last been on. She once again chanced opening her eyes, more cautiously this time, and took in her surroundings.

She was lying in a field that seemed to stretch on forever in front of her, lush green grass rolling over subtle hills. Several yard behind her lay a line of trees, leading to only more trees. Neither the field nor the trees had been in the middle of town, which was the last place she had remembered being, and for a moment her heart quivered in her chest as she worried that someone had drugged her drink and left her for dead.

Except, she didn't feel dead. She actually felt quite nice, rejuvenated even.

And they had left Lillian and Sadie with her. Surely they couldn't have gotten all of them, Sadie had barely drank at all that night, choosing instead to look after her friends.

Lillian began to stir next to her, sputtering as the rain began to fall harder. With a groan she heaved herself up off the damp earth, looking from the still unconscious Sadie to Tessa. Her forehead wrinkled, giving away her confusion as she took in the strange landscape before them. Then, as if she had only just taken the weather into account, she glared up at the sky.

"Why is it raining?" she asked in a defeated voice. It was bad enough that she was in butt fuck nowhere, and no way of getting home, but now she had to contend with the rain too?

Tessa blinked at her companion, unable to comprehend why her first comment was about the rain. Rain was normal. Waking up in the wilderness with no knowledge of how you got there, however, was not.

Except that one Tequila Tuesday… but that had never been repeated.

"Tess?"

"Hm?"

"What's going on?" Lillian looked confused, even a bit scared. Inside she was terrified. She couldn't see a road anywhere, and the flat field allowed her to see for miles. Maybe there was one in the trees?

"I don't know." Tessa's voice was grim, as was the look on her face. It wasn't often that she was unable to get a grip on a situation and figure out what was going on, but right now she was grasping at straws. There weren't even tire tracks, so no one could have drove them here, at least not very closely to the spot they now lay. "Wake Sadie up and we can go see if we can find a road."

Lillian scowled at their still sleeping friend. Surely she'd have some idea about what was going on. She hadn't had nearly as much to drink as Lillian and Tessa had.

That thought gave Lillian pause. She had been shit faced last night, why wasn't she feeling like it? Surely she should have a headache or a bit of nausea or something.

But that thought was pushed to the back of her mind when the light rain around them turned into a near downpour. Lillian sighed to herself, pushing her wet hair out of her face and nudged her sleeping friend.

"Come on Sadie, get up," she grumbled, groaning when she noticed how muddy she was. Just how long had it been raining? Sadie didn't budge, so Lillian crawled closer to her, glaring all the while. How could she be sleeping through all this rain? If Lillian was in her position she'd probably wake up thinking she was drowning. "Sadie, come on dude, get-"

When her hand came in contact with her friends skin, she jerked it back away. She was cold, very cold. Lillian's eyes widened in fear as she looked the other girl over. Her chest was rising with breaths, but very faint, shallow breaths. Her skin seemed sallow, as if she was very ill. Had the cold and the rain made her sick? Or was something else wrong with her?

"Tess, she won't wake up."

"Shake her harder then," the other girl waved off as she shakily brought herself to her feet. She felt like a newborn fawn with the way her legs quaked beneath her.

"No Tessa, she **won't** wake up," Lillian insisted, still fearfully watching their unconscious companion. "She's cold, really cold."

In a panic, Tessa stumbled over to her friends, immediately checking the older girl's pulse. She sighed with relief when she felt the faint but steady heartbeat. She was alive, but she had no idea why she wouldn't wake up.

"Okay," she said slowly, looking at her friend's worried face. "I'm going to go see if I can find a road and ask for help. Stay here-"

"I'll go with you," Lillian interrupted quickly. "You can't go by yourself. And two of us looking for it-"

"Lil, we can't leave Sadie here unconscious. I have no idea where we are, or who could be around. Stay with her, I'll be right back."

She left no room for argument as she jumped back to her feet and took off in the direction of the trees. The saturated earth left her slipping and sliding in the mud, and in her frustration she seemed to be spending more time heaving herself up off the ground than actually running, but concern for her friends kept her going.

Her legs burned as she began to stumble through the undergrowth of the woods. Surely there would be a road soon, there had to be. They had gotten to that field somehow, and there was no road in the field as far as she could see. It had to be hidden in the trees, it had to.

Her foot caught on a root and she nearly tripped, but righted herself at the last moment, only to be thrown roughly to the ground. Her body hit hard, landing in a small puddle that had formed under one of the great trees. The flimsy summer dress that she had worn the night before was soaked through with the dirty water, but that was the least of her worries.

Tessa was more concerned with the knife being held to her throat, and the heavy body looming over hers.

"Why are you following us?" the body above her growled, dark hair hiding his face as he held the blade close to her neck.

"Wh-what?" she stammered, wriggling her body to try to inch away from the deranged looking man. He only pressed down upon her harder, noting in confusion that it was not the hard body of a thief or looter that frequented this road that he felt, but the soft body of a woman. Was this some sort of trap?

"Why have you been following us?" he reiterated, taking a moment to look over her. He was greeted with a delicately featured face. Her heart shaped face was marred with mud and small scratches from branches, but he was able to make out most of her features. Terrified eyes framed with long lashes stared up at him in terror, leading down to a straight nose that upturned just barely at the end, and plump, full lips that were parted in a way that in any other situation would have been quite sensual.

"Following who?" she demanded, moving her body with more force to try to throw him off. The knife made her weary, she'd be a fool if it didn't, but she would not let him see her fear. "I was looking for a road. My friend… she needs help."

"Oh does she?" he asked, almost laughing. Was the poor girl really that naïve to think that such a ploy would work? The damsel in distress trick was one of the oldest in the book. Surely the thieves could come up with a better way to plunder than that.

"Yes. She won't wake up," she explained in a frail voice, remembering the cold touch of Sadie's skin and her absolute unresponsiveness. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know where we are."

The fear in her voice almost made him believe her, almost. It was just too convenient, too risky. He couldn't go risking his life and those of his company for the soft body pressed to the ground beneath him. And he certainly couldn't risk letting their goods get taken from them before they made it to their destination.

"Please, help her."

It was the broken look in her eyes that won him over. She seemed too sincere and too scared, but he refused to go on his own, he wasn't that stupid.

"Fili!" the man yelled harshly, causing the woman to jerk in surprise. Another man came from the trees, watching the scene before him with trepidation as he tried to figure out just what his brother was up to. "Go get Dwalin and Balin. Tell the others to guard the caravan."

"Kili," the other man groaned, ducking his head and sending his honey colored hair over his shoulders. "You cannot be serious. Just because she's a girl-"

"Just do it," the dark haired man sighed, finally lifting himself off of Tessa but keeping his eyes on her. "It's not like she can do much damage anyway."

"But whoever she's with could," the blond man groaned, pulling on a braid attached to his upper lip. "Keep an eye on her. Don't move Kili. Nowhere, not till I get back."

The dark haired man, Kili, scoffed as the other took off through the trees, and only then did Tessa gingerly lift herself off of the ground, wincing when she felt a pain in her thigh. She must have landed on something.

"You're going to help us?" she asked timidly, feeling incredibly out of place when she finally took in the man's appearance. He was an inch or so taller than her, but significantly more solid and stocky. He certainly wasn't wearing normal clothes, he almost looked like he belonged at a Renaissance Fair. But the thick, worn materials he was wearing seemed much more realistic than any Renaissance Fair costume she had ever seen. His hair was long, to his shoulders, and loose, falling down in unruly, wet waves thanks to the rain.

Tessa bit the inside of her cheek to try to keep herself from staring. She always did have a thing for men with dark, long hair.

He looked at her through his hair and gave a sharp nod, unsure if he should speak to her or not. He did not want to give up any information to her, only to find that his initial thoughts were correct and she was, in fact, a thief.

Though, for the life of him, Kili could never remember a thief that wore so little clothing. She was in scant more than a night gown, and one much shorter than any his mother had ever owned. It ended well before her knees, revealing entirely too much of her long, smooth legs. Her shoulders were bare as well, left with only a thin scrap of fabric on each to hold up her dress. He was doing his best to avoid looking at her chest, he knew that with the way the dress was so immodest everywhere else, there was sure to be more on display than he was meant to see. And he'd already felt them against him enough to know that there wasn't exactly much binding them.

There girl was going to get herself hurt running around in so little clothing out here.

"Thank you," she spoke meekly, studying him from beneath her lashes. He grunted in response, but said nothing more. He was a strange man, both in dress and in build. He was taller than her, but he somehow seemed… stouter. As if his body wasn't as long.

Or maybe she was just imagining things.

"Where are we?" she chanced asking, almost fearing he would ignore her. His eyes shot to her briefly before falling back to the ground.

"About a day and a half's ride north of Bree," was his curt answer. Tessa's nose wrinkled in confusion as she took in what he said. Bree? She'd never heard of a town around her called bring. And what did he mean a day and a half's ride? Couldn't he just tell her how many miles away it was? And for that matter, what the hell was he riding?

Tessa jumped when she heard the trees move behind the man that was watching her, seeing the blond return with two older men behind him. One had thick, gray hair and an even thicker, bushy gray beard that was much longer than most she saw. His eyes crinkled in the corners like most that spent much of their time smiling. The other man, however, was a bit more intimidating. He was taller than his comrade, and much bulkier. The top of his head was bald, and covered with what appeared to be tattoos of strange symbols, while his hair was a dark brown. He just looked so angry that Tessa almost shied away, almost.

"What is the commotion for Kili? We're already behind schedule because of the rain," the gruffer looking man spoke, turning a distasteful eye to Tessa before looking back at his companions. "And where did you find a naked woman?"

"I'm not naked," Tessa spat, narrowing her eyes at the man even as he paid her no mind.

"Found her running through the woods. I don't know where her clothes are," Kili shrugged, still only able to chance short glances at the woman. He most certainly did not want to be caught staring. "She said that her friend is injured."

"If she's wearing her small clothes as well it would be no wonder," the gruff man groaned, reaching up to take off his… cape? Tessa couldn't remember ever seeing someone wear a cape. He held the heavy material out to her, watching her carefully. "Put this on before the lad goes and embarrasses himself."

She gave him a funny look, unsure of what exactly he meant, but followed his instructions anyway. She'd be lying if she said it didn't shut out some of the cold wind and rain. Only when she saw Kili blush did she realize what lad the gruff man had been speaking of.

"I- Thank you," she whispered, feeling a bit claustrophobic as all four of the men seemed to round on her. "I'm Tessa."

"Dwalin," he replied, nodding his head toward the field outside of the wood. "Now let's go get your friend and see to her injury."


	3. Chapter 2

Every moment that Tessa was gone felt like an eternity to Lillian. Sadie had made no movement, and there was no one to be seen or heard from for miles it seemed. Where was the town? Where were the roads? Lillian was unable to spot any power lines around.

It was only when she saw shadowed figures emerging from the forest –one of them with her friend's undeniably wild hair blowing in the wind- that the tension in her shoulders began to ease. So she'd done it, she'd found help.

As the figures drew nearer, however, Lillian began to notice that something was not right. They were not right.

The first thought that came to her was the question of why the hell these strange, and apparently hairy, men were carrying swords. No one carried swords anymore; very few people even had them. Her younger brother only had any because he had some weird fascination with collecting weapons.

The second thought was her amusement at her friend being wrapped up in what at first appeared to be a blanket, but upon closer examination as a cloak.

The third, and most important thought, was the outrage she felt when she noticed that her friend's hands had been bound, and she was being led by a blond man with a funny, braided moustache that held a dagger to her throat.

First swords, now daggers?

"Let her go!" Lillian roared as soon as she gained her bearings after seeing a weapon anywhere near her dear friend. She leapt from the ground, a snarl on her face as she ran at the man threatening someone she considered to be family. Ignoring Tessa's attempts to call her off, she collided with the blond, sending them both tumbling to the ground and his dagger flying from his grip.

In hindsight, Lillian realized she should have thought this through better, because within seconds the other three men had pulled out their own weapons, ranging from a bow to a mother fucking _battle ax_, and the man that she had thrown to the ground had produced another small blade that he now held poised right at her jugular.

Lillian heard Tessa groan something along the lines of "you fucking idiot" as she folded her legs beneath herself and looked pleadingly at the men who now stood with sharp steal pointed at her irate friend.

"Please don't hurt her, she was trying to protect me," she explained calmly, looking up at her captors with the best doe eyes she could produce. Lillian scoffed at the attempt, why was she even attempting to look innocent to these men? Tessa wasn't one to bow out of a fight, and any attempt at restraining her was usually in vain.

"She just ran Fili down," the largest man snuffed, looking at the petite girl in anger. She reciprocated his look, putting on her best glare that she could manage with a knife at her throat.

Tessa groaned when she heard the terseness in Dwalin's voice. She knew he would be the one to convince, and the most difficult one at that. He wasn't a trusting person, and he wasn't exactly someone you wanted to distrust you.

"Without a weapon," she reminded him carefully. "We have no weapons, and there is nowhere in this field for anyone else to hide. I promise, we're not trying to trick you, we just need help."

"Does she usually attack people offering her a service?" the blond man beneath Lillian asked. She scoffed.

"When my friend is in danger, yes."

"The lass was in no danger," the oldest looking one of the four spoke calmly. He seemed to be the only one that was remotely calm, with the exception of Sadie. But Sadie still hadn't woken, so she didn't count.

_Oh Sadie…_

"Then why did you tie her up? And what was with the dagger? Usually a pulling a weapon on someone means that someone is being threatened," she hissed.

"We needed to make sure that she was not leading us into some sort of trickery," the same man replied.

"Coming from the men that look like they're pretending to be Knights of the Round Table?" Lillian laughed in response. She was totally unable to fathom why these men were dressed this way. Weren't they hot? The clothing looked so thick and itchy. "We just need to call for help," she continued, not even noticing the look of utter confusion on the men's faces, although Tessa took careful note of them. "We need to call a doctor for Sadie and call my dad to come get us. No big."

She was met with four blank male faces, and Tessa's look of hopeless exasperation. She'd already tried this, on the way back to her friends. She'd come to the conclusion that something was incredibly, irrevocably wrong because her reality was seemingly no longer as she had left it. She did not know where she was, but she knew that it most certainly wasn't Ohio, nor any land near it.

"Where are we, by the way? Hopefully my dad will be able to find us," she said to herself thoughtfully. "Though he does have GPS. I'm sure he can manage it."

"Doubt it," Tessa sighed sadly, having resigned herself to the wrongness of their current predicament.

"We're nearly a day and a half's ride to Bree," the blond scowled up at her, beginning to grow impatient with the woman perched atop of him. It was bad enough that the woman had caught him off guard and sent him to the ground, but now she would not be moved, even with the blade at her throat. "As my brother has already told your friend."

Lillian didn't even bother to stop the giggles that soon erupted form her. Did they think she was an idiot? "A day and a half's ride from Bree, eh?" she chuckled. "I suppose you'll tell me next that another half day's ride and we'd be in the Shire?"

"Little over half a day, really," the calm man spoke from before, his face the epitome of honesty. It was then that all laughter from Lillian ceased.

"Just who are all of you?" she asked skeptically. She could not deny that the very air around her felt foreign, and much different than it had when she had seemingly fallen asleep. She didn't even remember falling asleep now that she thought about it. The last thing she recalled was crossing the road…

"Balin," the kindly older man said first, giving the woman a slight bow, even though she remained atop one of his companions. "At your service."

The burly one came next, introducing himself as Dwalin, and though he gave no bow, he apparently was also at her service. Then the dark young man that stood eerily over her friend introduced himself as Kili, giving a quick bow and a smirk, and her stomach clenched. Oh no, no no… this was not right.

"I'm Fili," the man beneath her spoke, leaving her to fear that they were either surrounded by men that had lost their minds, or she had lost her mind herself. "I would say I am at your service, but from your position I think you're free to service yourself."

It was only at his raised eyebrows and smirk that she caught his meaning, and finally she sprung herself away from him, feeling her chest constrict in fear. It was no wonder Tessa remained so calm, she was not familiar with the story, she had no idea why these names should be familiar. Lillian, however, had grown up with it, had absorbed it and read more than one copy of the book till its pages fell out.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" she hissed at her friend who stared helplessly up at her from the ground. Feeling shameful for not knowing what was going on, nor how to fix it, Tessa bit her lip and shook her head.

"There was no road Lil," she explained carefully. "At least not like we're used to. No cars, no phones, it's like we're back in the Dark Ages or something."

Lillian listened to her friend's words and studied the men before her. Except, if she was right, and gods she hoped she wasn't, they weren't really men at all. Males, yes, but not men. Here man was a race, not a gender.

They were dwarves. And rather important ones.

"Tess, do you not know where we are?" she asked in a shaking voice, hoping that even though she was beginning to believe in the world around her, that someone would jump out and tell her it was a prank. Dwalin, however, did not look like the pranking type. He was much more intimidating than Lillian had ever imagined.

"No, I'm sorry."

Lillian nodded, now almost glad that Sadie wasn't awake. She'd be having a shit fit right now, and she was sure to when she woke up. This shouldn't happen, it's impossible. There was no way it could be real, it was just a _story_.

Yet here it was, staring her in the face.

"Well, we're not in the Dark Ages," she said slowly, looking over at the tall brunette and suddenly realizing that she wasn't as tall as she used to be. Neither of them were, for that matter. They couldn't be if they were still shorter than the dwarves. "We're in Middle Earth."

Tessa furrowed her brows, recognizing the name but not understanding how Lillian had come to that conclusion. She turned to ask her friend, but before any words left her mouth Lillian's body seemingly went slack, and she collapsed to the ground. Tessa's eyes widened and she struggled to get herself up off the ground to get to her, but kept tripping over the cloak that was wrapped around her.

"Great," Dwalin huffed. "Now we've got two injured girls."

**I just wanted to thank everyone for adding this to their alerts and favoriting it and what not. These first few chapters are a little bit short, but they do get longer, I promise. I'd truly love some feedback on this, I'm curious as to what everyone is thinking. I've got a lot planned for this story so I'm fairly excited.**


	4. Chapter 3

Kili watched with slight amusement as his brother helped along the groggy woman who had assaulted him not an hour ago. She'd awoken shortly after she had fainted, but she did not seem herself. Her movements were sluggish and she stumbled over nearly everything. Had Kili not known better, he would have thought she was drunk.

There was a slight yelp behind him, and he turned to see the tallest one, Tessa, trying to right herself after stumbling. He heard her muttering under her breath and had a feeling that it was not something that a lady should say. She'd fallen multiple times as they began their trek back to their caravan, and each time her face had gotten a little more red and a little bit harder.

He glanced back ahead of himself, spotting Dwalin carting the girl who had still not awoken. Balin had looked her over and pronounced that nothing appeared to out of sorts with her. She had no wounds, no fever, no issues other than her inability to wake.

"Dwalin," he called to the older dwarf. "I'm going to cut her bindings," he explained, nodding his head toward the stunned young woman that had stopped to stare at him. "She's not going to try anything."

Dwalin stared the girl down for a moment, having to admit that he admired her gumption when she stared right back at him, before nodding. "Suppose you're right," he conceded. "Be quick about it, and catch up."

He and Balin continued moving then, only Fili stopped to give him a concerned glance, wondering if he should wait with him. Knowing he had his hands full with the drowsy girl he was half carrying, Kili waved him on.

"Come here," he muttered to the girl, who carefully moved closer to him, being sure to avoid anything that may trip her up. Her lack of complaints stunned him, she'd just done her best to keep up with them, not even asking for help. He supposed it was because they had her friends. The way she was constantly watching them and the worried look she gave, he knew that she would just follow along no matter the conditions, as long as they were looked after. He could sympathize, he would do the same if Fili was injured.

"If you pull any tricks when I let you loose," he began his threat, stopping when he realized he wasn't sure what he was going for and starting again. "If any harm comes to any of my companions from you… I will kill you myself."

Tessa didn't even blink as she stared back at the dark dwarf that still eyed her with slight suspicion. She had no intentions of hurting anyone or pulling any "tricks", she had nothing to fear from his threats.

"Likewise," she said simply, a hard honesty plainly visible in her eyes. She may not be as well armed as he was, but if he hurt Lillian or Sadie, she'd kill him with her bare hands, one way or another.

He winced when he realized that the cloak she was wearing would prevent him from getting to her bound hands. Why couldn't she have been dressed in the strange pants and tunics like her friends were? "I'll have to take the cloak off to get to your hands."

"That's fine," she responded calmly, ignoring the strange look that Kili gave her. Why was she so comfortable wearing so little in front of him? Shouldn't she be making some attempt to keep her modesty. "It's not that cold, anyway."

"Dwalin didn't give it to you because of the cold," he muttered, reaching for the clasp at her neck and doing his best to keep his eyes on hers as the cloak dropped from her. He saw her shiver as the cold rain hit her skin again, and within seconds goose-flesh erupted over her body. He then had to remind himself to focus on her eyes.

"Does my clothing bother you?" she asked, the corners of her lips up turning in a subtle smirk.

"There isn't much of it," he grumbled, moving behind her and pulling out a dagger. Her head turned, following him until she was watching him from over her shoulder.

"Most girls wear less," she shrugged. "Where I'm from, anyway."

"They don't here," he said quietly, carefully slipping his blade between her wrists and pulling against the leather tie around them. With a small tug, the tie fell to the ground beneath them, and Tessa sighed in content as she brought her hands in front of her and flexed her shoulders. "When we get back to our caravan, I'll find you some clothing to wear till we get to Bree."

"It really bothers you that much?" she questioned as he picked the cloak up from the ground. Kili's eyes moved to her, subtly taking in the thin, wet piece of clothing that covered her. Did it bother him? Very much so. Just not in the way she was thinking.

"It is not appropriate for a lady," he replied diplomatically. Her face sparkled in amusement.

"I'm not a lady," she chuckled. "But if it makes you feel better, and keeps me warmer, I will gladly put on my clothing."

Kili wasn't sure if he wanted to thank her for that or not.

Tessa was able to follow after him much faster now that her arms were free and her balance returned to her. Although there were a few instances where he had to stop and pull her out of the mud when her foot sunk too low. The miniscule, strappy leather shoes she had on were nearly as flimsy as the scraps of clothe she insisted upon calling a dress. When he remarked on this she scoffed at him.

"I wasn't planning on being dropped in the middle of nowhere in some random world."

He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, so he simply grunted in response.

By the time they finally caught up with Dwalin, Balin, and his brother, they were already at the caravan they were taking to Bree. Some of the other dwarves looked on in confusion as Balin and Fili began rearranging the goods in one of the wagons so they could lay the sleeping girl on it. The girl who Fili had helped, Lillian, seemed more awake now, though her skin was still quite pale and terror was clear in her eyes.

"What have you got there, Kili? Another pretty lass?" one of the other members of their trading party whooped, shooting Kili a smirk and then eyeing the girl behind him. "You boys are just bringing me all sorts of presents."

"Leave it, Gorn," Kili grumbled, glaring at the other dwarf. Gorn was three years older than Fili, Kili had grown up with him, and he disliked him to no end. He was arrogant and rude, and held little to no regard for anyone but himself. And he liked to pick on and belittle others, Kili being one of his favorite targets.

"Well it's not as if they'd be for you! You haven't even managed to grow a beard yet! I'm not even sure you're able to."

Kili growled to himself. That was one of Gorn's favorite topics to bring up, his lack of beard. Kili hated it, and despised the notion that he was any less of a dwarf for not being as bearded as most of his comrades.

"The lasses don't like dwarves that can't grow a beard, do you?" he smirked, looking over at Tessa as Kili grabbed one of his saddlebags from his pony. He shot a quick glance at her, but looked away just as fast. He didn't want, nor need, to hear her response. He was sick of hearing women preen over his peers beards.

"They don't like bullies that don't bathe, either."

Her flat, unamused answer actually made Kili smirk to himself, especially when he heard Gorn beginning to stutter. He actually took the opportunity to look over at her now, finding that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of a glare such as the one she was sending Gorn.

The baffled look on the dwarf's face was quite comical, and he wasn't the only one that thought so. Fili was openly laughing, while Balin and some of the other members of the caravan turned away with smiles. Even Dwalin found it amusing, judging by the quick smirk that crossed his face as he gently laid the sleeping girl down.

Sadie, her name was Sadie. He needed to remember that. Tessa had told him, and she and the other girl, Lillian, had said her name multiple times. He couldn't keep referring to her as the sleeping girl, for she would wake up eventually. He hoped.

As Kili pulled out an extra pair of breeches and a tunic, he noticed that Gorn had dismounted from his pony. With a few quick tugs and jerks, Kili had closed his saddlebag and returned it to his own pony, concerned at how Gorn would take being the butt of a joke.

"I bathe."

"Apparently not enough, because I can smell you from here," Tessa bit back quickly, ignoring the angry look on the burly dwarf's face. She wrinkled her nose, having already decided that she did not like this man… dwarf. She did not like the way he looked at her, and she did not like the way he had spoken to Kili. The way Kili had held himself and deflated when this dwarf, Gorn, had spoken, gave all too much away to her. She'd been there, she'd been the butt of jokes and felt like a lesser person. She hated people who did that to others.

And Kili, he had been kind to her. Not at first maybe, as tackling someone and threatening them wasn't exactly a kindhearted gesture, but in his own way he was. He had, after all, listened to her and agreed to help her.

As he handed her some clothing to change into, clothes that were blessedly dry and free of mud, she realized that she quite liked this dwarf. He wasn't very talkative, but she was okay with that. He was good-hearted, and that was what mattered.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking the clothes from him gingerly and smiling. She could hear Gorn scoff something about beards again from not too far away, and she rolled her eyes. He really was an ass hat. "For what it's worth," she began as Kili turned back around, freezing when she spoke. "I think you look good without a beard. Scruff suits you."

Fili barked out a laugh when he saw the pink tint to his brother's cheeks. He hadn't heard what the girl had told him, but whatever it had been must have had an effect on him. He couldn't even look at her while he told her what trees to hide behind to change.

"Dammit Tessa."

He glanced down at the groaning girl beside him. Lillian was leaning against one of the wagons for support as they waited. Her color had begun to return, but thankfully she'd made no other attempts to attack him. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her, waiting for a reason that brought her to curse her friend's name.

"She's going to get herself into trouble," she explained with a bit of surliness when he refused to look away from her. Fili snorted.

"Gorn has needed to be put in his place for a while. There is no need to worry about him. He's gruff and rude, but he'd never hurt a woman." He paused for a moment, considering the man's poor behavior after too many mugs of ale. "At least, not to my knowledge. And certainly not with any of us around."

"Gorn isn't who I'm worried about," the small woman sighed, watching his brother with a critical eye. Lillian could already see things panning out badly. It was bad enough that these dwarves weren't as ugly as Tolkien had portrayed them… well, not all of them anyway. Some were uglier than others, just as some were more attractive. Like humans, Lillian supposed.

The point was, dwarfs were supposed to be ugly. Kili, and admittedly Fili, were certainly not so. And while Fili didn't seem to be a problem, Kili would be. She'd already noticed the way Tessa was looking at him. She was attracted to him. Somehow, in this fucked up situation, her friend still found a way to be attracted to her rescuer.

The girl was cold-hearted and picky when it came to men, more often scaring them off than actually talking and flirting with them. Yet, one dwarf comes to her rescue and she's making batty eyes at him and grinning like a school girl. It was almost pathetic.

Here they were, stuck in a fictional world, and Tessa was flirting.

Lillian almost wanted to strangle her. How could she be so calm in this situation? Lillian couldn't wrap her head around what was going on, and she at least knew some things about the world they were in. Tessa, however, knew almost nothing about what was going on, nor about Middle Earth, save what she may or may not remember from watching _Lord of the Rings_ with her and Sadie.

Yet there she was, smiling at the dark headed dwarf as she emerged from the trees… in his clothing.

Great, just great. Of all the creatures in this world, of all the dwarves… she was giving Kili the eyes.

Lillian was going to have to find a way to get them back home, and fast. She knew what was coming, she just didn't know how soon. And she knew Tessa, way too well. She didn't often become involved with men in any way other than friendship. She balked at the idea of relationships, and turned up her nose at most that would ask her on a date.

But when she was interested in someone, it would hit her hard and fast and she would give her heart away way too easily.

"We're leaving," Fili spoke up, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lillian looked up at him with big eyes and nodded. "You'll have to ride with me. We have no room in any of the wagons."

Lillian nodded, but didn't speak. She simply followed the blond dwarf to his pony and refused his offer to help her get on and climbing easily into the saddle. Fili gave her an impressed look before climbing on in front of her. While she wasn't exactly excited about clinging to him for the rest of the day as they rode, she knew it was better than walking, or being left in that field.

"Try not to assault me anymore," he said over his shoulder, winking when he saw her disgruntled face.

"Try not to be an ass," she responded sweetly, begrudgingly smiling a bit when he barked out a laugh.

Seconds later, another pony approached them, carrying Kili and Tessa. Lillian's lips were set in a firm line, but she knew she shouldn't have expected any different. Kili was the first one that Tessa had met, the first one to help, she was bound to feel some sort of attachment and safety with him.

But her arms were wrapped around him a little too tightly.

"Be nice," Tessa warned her surly friend. She couldn't figure out why Lillian was so up-tight and disgruntled, she'd heard her talk about Middle Earth and Tolkein's stories for years. The girl had even tried to save up money to go on vacation and tour the hobbit holes left in New Zealand from the filming of the _Lord of the Rings_ movies. Tessa had thought Lillian would be ecstatic to actually get to see the world she'd loved for so long.

Instead she just looked petrified, and a little bit pissed.

Lillian scoffed, and gave her friend a stern look. "You're enjoying this a little too much." Tessa, for what it was worth, had the grace to look somewhat guilty as she ducked her head, but Lillian still caught the small smile on her lips. She was going to wind up having to intervene, she knew it.

However, thoughts of intervention were quickly forgotten when a sharp intake of breath was heard from the wagon.

**I'm actually rather impressed that I managed to get this written and posted tonight. Yay me! I'd like to thank everyone for their follows and reviews, they do mean a lot to me. :) I had honestly thought that I was the only one that would enjoy this story, but apparently I'm mistaken… thank goodness. **

**Please, feel free to leave reviews. I love constructive criticism, or even just your thoughts on what is going on and where you think the story is headed… or where you would like it to be headed. **


	5. Chapter 4

The loud gasp caught the entire company's attention, and Lillian was so relieved that she nearly fell off of the pony she shared with Fili. She turned sharply, eyeing the wagon critically, finding her friend settled between a few boxes and on top of fabrics. After a second, her eye snapped open, and then the crying started.

The moment Sadie was fully conscious, a loud sob racked her body. She could still see the figures looming over her, she still remembered her world standing still as-

"Sadie!"

Her heart had to have stopped within her chest when she heard her name. It had to. There was no way-

"Tessa?" she croaked, lifting herself up to her elbows and peaking over the crates that seemed to surround her. Had she imagined it?

"You're awake," her friend's voice came again as her head appeared from above the crates. A shuddering sob shook Sadie's body as she took in the younger woman. She was okay, she looked perfectly fine. For the most part anyway. She was muddy and had some scratches but other than that-

"What are you wearing?" she asked suddenly, taking note of the baggy cotton shirt that she was practically swimming in. The taller girl bit her lip and turned a bit pink. With a frown, Sadie heaved herself up into a sitting position, finally able to see over the crates. She then found that she was in a wagon, while her friend was on a horse… with a man. "Tessa?"

Tessa hated when Sadie used that tone, she always caved in and told her what she wanted to know. This time, however, Tessa wasn't even sure she **could** tell her friend what she wanted to know. She genuinely had no idea what was going on, or how they had gotten here. She barely even knew where here was. This wasn't her place to answer.

"You should talk to Lil-"

"She's here too? Is she okay? What is going on? Where **are **we?"

Sadie was rattling off questions faster than she could even consciously think of them. Her head ached, but she needed answers. Only when she heard a feminine growl did she quiet down. She'd know that impatient noise anywhere.

"You take me over there right now or so help me Zeus I will rip those stupid little braids off of your lip!"

Sadie watched Tessa close her eyes in frustration, muttering something about getting them killed before calling for Lillian and a filly.

"Let her talk to Sadie, it'll calm her down," she ordered as Sadie watched another horse trot up to the other side of the cart she was in, this one holding another man and Lillian. Unlike the man Tessa was riding with who had very dark hair, this man had fair hair and some odd looking facial hair. However, their faces did bear some sort of resemblance, especially in their aristocratic cheek bones and smiling eyes.

"Thank you, Fili," Tessa smiled at the blond man while Lillian simply glared at the back of his head. It was only then that Sadie realized Tess had not been asking for a baby horse, but that the man's name was Fili. Strange, she thought, that name was quite familiar.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Lillian grinned, looking upon her friend finally. "We… we were so scared. I sent Tessa out to look for someone to help or a road or something…"

Sadie's face crumpled then, as she finally fully registered her surroundings. Horses… her friends were on horses… and she was in a rough wooden cart… pulled by horses. Either they had been found by Amish, which would have been plausible if the clothing was more bland and the beards more plain, or…

"Lillian, where are we?" she asked finally, noticing the anxiety that immediately crossed her bold friend's face.

"About that…" Lillian sighed, desperately trying to figure out where to begin.

Lillian watched Sadie as she stared into the fire that night, concerned with the way her friend had handled the current situation. She had expected disbelief and fear, or even a bit of anger. But instead, Sadie took it in with a quiet resignation, giving her a small smile and telling her it was better than the alternative.

Lillian wasn't sure what alternative she was talking about. Nor was she certain why her level-headed and practical friend seemed just fine with what was going on. It wasn't natural, and it wasn't part of their world; usually Sadie would balk at something like this, while Lillian would be enjoying the strange turn of events with Tessa. But something had twisted everything around, and Lillian could not figure out what in the hell was going on.

She was missing something, she had to be. There was no reason for them to just leave one world and enter another. It wasn't conceivable. It wasn't practical. It wasn't-

Lillian huffed to herself, wondering when she had started worrying so much about what was conceivable and practical. She was an artist, she was supposed to challenge these ideas, yet here she was, in a world that she had read about till her eyes drooped throughout her childhood… and admittedly her adult life as well… She should be ecstatic. She should be enjoying this. She should be turning this into her own adventure, just like Tessa seemed to be doing.

So what was holding her back?

She caught Fili watching her out of the corner of her eye and knew exactly what was holding her back. She knew what was coming.

"Why aren't you happy?" Sadie asked as she gently placed herself next to Lillian. When she'd awoken, she'd complained of feeling weakened, and seemed to find it quite strange that Lillian and Tessa had not. Tessa, for one frightening moment, had stepped in as the voice of reason and suggested that maybe it was because she and Lillian had so much adrenaline from worrying about Sadie's well-being They had not had the time to feel weak, because they'd had to be strong for their friend.

"Should I be?" the shorter woman challenged, looking at her older friend. There was a warm, slightly maternal smile on Sadie's face as she nodded. Thankfully, her color had begun to return as the evening had worn on. Her eyes were beginning to hold a bit of sparkle that Lillian knew gave away her fascination with what was going on.

"Yes, you should," she answered honestly, holding her hands out in front of her to be warmed by the fire. Lillian huffed in response.

"Are you?" she challenged, watching as the older girl frowned, her face lined with something that seemed to resemble worry.

"I would be, if it wasn't for… If I didn't… There are some things holding me back," she finally settled, her eyebrows knitting together in thought.

"Like a boyfriend?" Lillian scoffed, glaring at the flames before her in anger. As she looked, she became more and more drawn into the flames, into the way they danced and weaved into the dark night around them. It was almost like they were alive. And then suddenly, they were. Lillian could see them, she could see things _in _ them.

She saw Tessa, though she was clean, and her hair fell over her shoulder in a loose braid with curls falling about. She was wearing strange clothing, clothing similar to what the dwarves around them were wearing, but much more fitted. She was in a room, a large one. With white washed walls and a wooden floor, standing next to a table. Her face was flushed, and for a moment Lillian wondered if it was in lust or anger, as those seemed to be the only things that would cause her eyes to light that way anymore. Then, as she lifted a metal tankard of some sort and brought it ruthlessly across the temple of a man much taller than her, Lillian immediately knew it was anger. Her face was now contorted in rage as she yelled something. What she was yelling, Lillian couldn't hear, but gods she was angry. Then, before the man that she had hit could retaliate, Lillian saw someone push Tessa away and step in front of her. No. No it wasn't someone. It was Kili. And he looked as pissed as Tessa. Then the man-

"Lillian! Are you listening to me?"

Lillian jumped, feeling her skin prickle as she drug her eyes away from the fire, that now seemed less alive and more like a normal camp fire, and looked back at Sadie, who looked quite concerned.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," Lillian muttered a bit gruffly, trying to get her mind around what she had just seen. She had to have imagined it. She had to. After all, it wasn't a far fetch for Tessa to get in a fight, regardless of what world she was in.

"I said I'd hardly call him a boyfriend, you dumped him, remember?"

"We're taking a break," Lillian corrected, running her hands up and down her arms to try to get some warmth back into them. Sadie laughed.

"He cheated on your Lil, that doesn't constitute a break."

The words struck her hard. It wasn't something that she liked to think about. She'd been with Nicholas for two years, it was the closest to being in love she had ever been. Maybe she even had been in love with him. But then his infidelity had come to light. He'd been caught in his lies, caught with another girl. He had, to his credit, then fessed up to exactly what had gone on. However, he had still done it. Lillian wasn't sure what to do, or how to handle it. So they'd just agreed to take a break till she could figure it out. Three weeks later and she still hadn't decided.

And now she was stuck in Middle fucking Earth.

"He's the one that found us?" Sadie asked when Lillian fell silent. Looking up, Lillian saw her staring at Kili, who was sitting across the fire showing Tessa how to sharpen knives with a wet stone. She caught on quickly, having helped her father sharpen his knives when she was younger, though his sharpener was not quite as crude. Kili, however, didn't know that. And he cast her more than one impressed, and appreciative, look as she sharpened on of his daggers while he sharpened the other.

"Found her," Lillian corrected. "She lead him, and Fili, Dwalin, and Balin, back to us."

"So why is she wearing his clothes?"

"What makes you think they're his?" Lillian's nose twitched a bit in annoyance. Tessa was getting a bit too personal with the dwarf, ignoring any warning looks she got, only because she knew that Lillian couldn't actually say anything to her. Not in front of the dwarves.

"Any of the others' would be much bigger on her," Sadie shrugged, kicking at the dirt beneath them. "Except maybe Fili's. But he isn't looking at her the way-"

"They're not Fili's, you're right."

Sadie looked at her friend in amusement. She was quite uptight about what was going on. It was almost uncharacteristic of her. Actually, to hell with _almost_, it was very uncharacteristic of her. And the fact that something as insignificant as Tessa flirting with a man would make her so grumpy was strange. Usually Lillian would encourage their cold friend to flirt a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sadie scoffed, rolling her eyes at the short girl's stubbornness.

"Lil, I'm not stupid. Why are you so pissed at Tessa?"

"I'm not _pissed_ at her," Lillian said pointedly. "It's just annoying that she's acting like this is some sort of… vacation or something. She's chasing after a man when we should be figuring out how to get home."

There was a beat of silence before Sadie spoke, and once she did, her words sent a cold feeling rushing over Lillian's body.

"We can't."

"Can't what?"

"We can't go home," Sadie sighed, a sad, faraway look clouding her eyes. "We're stuck here."

"We can't be-"

"We are."

"No. We got here somehow, we'll just get home the same-"

"We **can't**!" The words came out much louder and harsher than Sadie had intended. It seemed as if the entire camp quieted down to stare at them for a moment. Sadie fidgeted uncomfortably, waiting until they all went back about their business to speak anymore. After a moment, her outburst seemed forgotten, leaving Lillian staring at her, and Tessa glancing at her warily from across the fire.

"We can't go back Lillian," she spoke softly, seeing the grief flash across her friend's face.

"Why not?"

"We just can't," she repeated stubbornly, her heart aching even as she said it. She knew there was no going back there, it was impossible. They'd have to make some semblance of a home here.

Lillian felt like her world was falling apart, though really, it already had. How else could she have wound up in a fictitious world? "You're sure this isn't just some strange dream?"

"I'm positive."

This time Sadie's tone left no room for argument, nor did it allow for Lillian to question her further. Eyes watering, Lillian glared at the ground beneath them, feeling as if the very earth around them had betrayed them. How could it even exist? This place wasn't real.

"What do we do then?"

"We live," Sadie shrugged, glancing at the dwarves around them warily. "If we're lucky, maybe the dwarves will let us come with them. We could make a home-"

"No!" Lillian gasped, horrified. "Sadie I can't even look at them without thinking about what will happen," she hissed to her blank looking friend. "We know what is coming. What will happen. And Tessa is already getting attached to Kili… and Fili…" she trailed off, unable to vocalize her thoughts, though she didn't need to. Sadie understood. She knew the story as well. She knew what was coming, she knew the ending.

"So we change it."

Lillian scoffed, unwilling to believe what she had heard. "We cannot just _change it._ It's written, Tolkien-"

"Is just a writer in another world now," Sadie interrupted.

"That doesn't mean we can change what he said will happen."

"It also doesn't mean we can't," she challenged. She wasn't giving up on this. They'd had no choice in what had happened, they'd had no choice in coming here. But now, with this, they had a choice.

"It might not work!"

"But it might."

"You…You're serious, aren't you?" Lillian couldn't believe it. She could not believe that Sadie, who always seemed to follow the rules, was even talking like this. Changing the events that were to come? But… were they really going to happen? Or had things changed already? Were they ever even really going to happen in this reality of Middle Earth? "Do you think we could?"

"They haven't started the journey yet, they may not have even begun planning it," Sadie pointed out. "It gives us time to plan and prepare."

"We'd have to go with them," Lillian continued, her thoughts going a mile a minute as her eyes scanned the camp of dwarves around them. Was it possible?

"Which means we'll have to stick with them, go back to the Blue Mountains with them," Sadie offered, a small smile growing on her face. "I think Tessa will like that."

Lillian started then, looking between Sadie and their friend across the fire, who was now laughing with the scruffy, dark-haired dwarf. "Shouldn't we step in? Keep her from him?"

"I'm sure it's just harmless flirting."

"For the moment."

"But," Sadie continued, her eyes sparking in interest. "**If** something happened, it would already be a change. He never left anyone behind, other than his mother."

"But what if we fail. Then-"

"We'll worry about that later," Sadie said with a tone of finality. "It's not our biggest concern right now. I'm sure things will work themselves out there."

Lillian huffed, knowing her friend, and knowing that things with her and a man never _worked itself out_. That situation was going to lead to heartbreak, for at least one of them, if it was allowed to continue. But Sadie was right, it wasn't their biggest worry at the moment.

"We're really going to do this?" she checked, needing to be certain before she committed to what was to come. It was all or nothing if they tried this, they couldn't half ass it. It was more than one fate they would change, and lots of events.

"Yes," Sadie grinned, enjoying that she now felt like she had something to fight for, a goal to strive towards, and a noble one at that. "We're going to do this."

Lillian released a large puff of air and turned her face to the stars, feeling the weight of this goal settle in on her. "Alright then. Gods help us…"

**Sorry this took so long! Things got a bit busy for a few days. But, I did get this chapter done, finally! These introductory chapters have been kicking my butt, I always like to jump right into stories, so it's taken a lot of restraint to make sure to slow it down and get out the information I need to. **

**Anyway! I hope everyone liked it. I'd love it if you would leave me some feedback, I'm only getting it from a couple of people. It'd be awesome to hear what more of you think. :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters. I do not make any profit off of this. I am simply writing for my own pleasure, and that of anyone who chooses to read. **

Tessa shivered as the night air hit her, sneaking between the small bit of blanket that she had. The dwarves had agreed that the three girls could use the blanket and bed roll of the dwarf on watch that night. As they'd switched turns, they'd simply swapped bed rolls. None of the dwarves truly had the heart to wake any of the women up.

However, a blanket made for one person was not easily shared by three, and now Tessa was realizing exactly why. It seemed like the whole night, or what had passed of it anyway, had been a battle for the blanket. At first, Tessa had actually fought back a bit, trying to keep herself warm as the fire began to dwindle. Then she had seen Sadie begin shivering at the loss of the blanket. With a slight grimace, she had given up the struggle to keep warm, deciding that she'd rather let the other two sleep peacefully.

A glimpse at the smoldering embers of the fire gave her hope that she would find some sort of warmth there. She heaved herself up off the ground, stumbling a bit while she tried to gain her footing. She felt like she was playing minesweeper as she gingerly dodged the sleeping dwarves in her path, feeling that waking one of them by stepping on them would not go over well.

"You should be sleeping."

Tessa's eyes darted up quickly, finding Kili sitting near the small fire next to his brother. It must be their turn to be on watch, she surmised, though she still wasn't quite sure what they were supposed to be watching for.

"I can't," she mumbled, settling herself near the brothers and taking in the small warmth that the fire provided. She wasn't sure if it was the cold air, or the missed dose of anti-depressants that usually lulled her off to sleep, or even the hard ground, but she could not seem to find rest. "Sadie and Lil are blanket hogs," she shrugged with a playful smile, hoping to ease the worried looks that crossed the brothers' faces.

Kili frowned and heaved himself off the ground, ignoring the confused look the girl sent him, and very intentionally ignoring Fili's smirk. His bedroll was only a few steps away, next to Fili's. Though Fror had been sleeping on it since his watch had ended. Kili snatched his blanket up from the ground and returned to the fire, narrowing his eyes at Fili as he sat down.

"Here," he muttered, offering the blanket to Tessa. She shook her head.

"I'm not taking your blanket, Kili. You need it."

Kili watched her in amusement as a shiver racked her body and rolled his eyes. Stubborn, silly girl. "I've got a cloak, I don't need it. Take it."

Tessa bit her lip, staring for a moment before gingerly reaching out and taking the blanket from his hand. "I still won't be able to sleep," she warned him as she scooted a bit closer to the brothers for warmth.

"At least you'll be warm," Fili smiled, looking at his brother. "Right, Kili?"

Kili nodded, but did not speak. He knew that any word he spoke Fili would find a way to twist around on him. His older brother enjoyed teasing him a bit too much, and though it was always good natured and Kili usually didn't mind, it was not something he particularly wanted the woman to witness.

"So, where exactly are you guys going?" Tessa asked after a few minutes of silence. She usually didn't mind silence, actually reveled in it quite often, but for some reason it made her uneasy now. Perhaps it was her lack of understanding of this world and what was going on, or perhaps it was just that something about the two brothers left her feeling slightly on edge.

Yet, strangely, she also felt quite safe around them.

Tessa decided that it was only because they had been the first to come to her aid.

"Bree," Fili answered, picking at a piece of wood with one of his knives. "For trade."

Tessa nodded, she'd remembered them mentioning that town. It was the one that was fairly close, the one that had given Lillian such a start.

"I suppose you'll want us to leave soon then?" she asked them timidly, only finding enough bravery to briefly glance at the dwarves. For all the courage that she usually possessed, the thought of having to fend for herself in this foreign world terrified Tessa. The dwarves had only agreed to help get Sadie medical attention, but now Sadie seemed perfectly fine. Perhaps they'd want to continue on without them, or maybe they'd decide to leave them in this Bree place.

Neither of those options sat very well with Tessa.

"Well we'll be leaving in the morning," Kili began stopping when he noticed the fearful look in her eyes. It was only then that he truly understood her question. Us didn't mean the company they were traveling in, us meant her and her friends. She thought they would leave them, in the middle of a forest? "You're coming with us," he told her softly, unable to tear his eyes away as she licked her lips. She didn't look as feral once the mud was cleared from her face. She was actually a bit pretty, even if she wasn't a dwarf.

"To Bree?"

"To Belegost."

His response caused his brother to stop his carving and look up at him with raised brow. Kili knew that it wasn't technically his decision to make, and that some of the company might be unhappy with it, but he also knew that he couldn't leave these women out on their own. It didn't sit right with him.

"Our home," Fili clarified for Tessa when she stared at his silent brother in confusion. While he hadn't planned on just leaving the women in Bree either, he hadn't expected his little brother to come to this decision on his own, without even consulting Dwalin. Watching Kili try to explain that to their burly leader would be entertaining.

"Really?" she stammered, looking back and forth between the two brothers. She'd been fully expecting them to leave them, or that they would at least have to plead to go with them, but Kili made it sound so simple, like the decision had been clear all along.

"Aye, now go get some sleep," Fili ordered, jerking his head toward Kili's empty bedroll. "We have watch the rest of the night, he can't use it anyway."

Tessa chewed on her lip in contemplation. That was rude, wasn't it? Taking his bedroll? Her eyes moved to Kili, who had been watching her the whole time. "Go on," he urged with a small smile. A grateful smile broke out onto her face as she thanked him before scurrying off to the empty bedroll, grateful that this one was a bit closer to the fire.

When Tessa's rustling stopped and she finally seemed to be asleep, Kili groaned and looked to his older brother. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Did you not mean it?" Fili questioned, not looking up from his wood. He'd had to lead his brother to answers that he already knew many times in his life, it was nothing new to him. He knew exactly what look was on his brother's face right now, without even having to glance at him. Pursed lips, wrinkled brow, flared nostrils. Kili was unsure of himself, again.

"I meant it," he muttered, sneaking a glance back at the girl sleeping under his blanket. Even if his honor didn't tell him it was wrong to leave women with no way to defend themselves and no one to take care of them, he'd do it for her.

But only because he enjoyed seeing the nasty looks she gave Gorn.

"Then what is the problem, brother?" Fili asked, his lips quirking into a small smile. Sometimes Kili could be so predictable.

"Dwalin-"

"Will not be hard to convince. We'll have Balin on our side as well."

"We?" Kili asked with a grin as his brother finally met his eyes.

"Of course we, you idiot. You didn't think I'd be willing to leave them in a place they know nothing about, did you?" The guilty smile that crossed his brother's face told him all he needed to know. "Kili, we can't leave them. I don't know what, or who they are, but they're obviously far from home and scared. They've got no one. You cannot leave women to fend for themselves. Thorin would-"

It was then that Kili's eyes widened. That was someone he had not taken into account. Thorin was not always welcoming to newcomers, and he certainly wasn't trusting, especially if you weren't a dwarf. "He'll be furious."

"He won't," Fili waved off, though he wasn't entirely convinced himself. "Even if they aren't dwarves, they're still women, and still without anywhere to go."

"I hope you're right," Kili grumbled, pushing himself up and stretching. "I'm going to get some more firewood."

"Be careful," the older brother muttered as he watched Kili disappear into the night. Fili truly hoped he was right as well.

The company had spent most of the day at a canter on the ponies, trying to make up for the time that they had lost in the rain and aiding their newfound companions. Dwalin and Balin lead the group, talking amongst themselves, while the others were left to keep the wagons containing their goods surrounded. It would not do to be thieved from this close to their destination.

Kili found that Tessa was holding onto him much more tightly today than she had been the day before. It wasn't that he minded so much that she was holding on, but it was quite distracting. Her body was pressed against his much more than he was used to, and he was able to feel her breath slip past his hair and tickle the tips of his ears.

Yes, it was quite distracting.

"Are you well?" he asked after a while, concerned that she was frightened by the speed. It was probable that she was not accustomed to riding ponies, and even more probable that she was not used to doing so at anything other than a lazy gait.

"Fine, you?" she returned, sounding a bit out of breath. Kili laughed to himself, she must be trying quite hard to hide her fear.

"I am not clinging to you as if I'll fall off at any moment," he teased, hearing her huff in return.

"I'm not scared, if that's what you're insinuating." She sounded a bit annoyed to be honest. She had been trying quite hard to put on a brave face, he'd noticed. He doubted the woman was very happy that her fear had been pointed out.

"You are holding me quite tightly," he told her gently, looking over his shoulder to give her a smile.

"Trust me, it isn't because I'm scared of the horse," she frowned in response, even as her cheeks turned pink. Kili decided then that he liked how she looked when she blushed, it brought an air of innocence about her that was quite becoming.

"Why, then?" he questioned, turning back to make sure his pony wasn't getting too close to the wagon. Had he not turned around, he would have witnessed her frown turning into a scowl as she loosened her hold on him. He was about to inquire about her actions, worried he had offended her, when he _felt_ why she was holding so tightly to him.

Once her grip on him had loosened and their bodies were no longer pressed together as tightly, she bounced more from the horse's canter. That, however, was not the problem. She was able to move with the canter, he could feel the way that she used her thighs and her hips to keep the smooth movements with the horse. A different part of her, however, did not seem to be cooperating.

With every footfall of his pony, her breasts bounced heavily, brushing against his back and making her grimace at the force and embarrassment.

This time, it was Kili whose cheeks colored.

"While I appreciate you allowing me to borrow your clothes, it's not exactly offering me the… support… I could use at the moment," she explained in a near whisper, hoping that none of the others heard her. "I didn't dress expecting to be riding a horse the other night."

"It would seem not," he replied, trying to keep his voice even and praying to Mahal that he didn't make a complete fool of himself. "I do not mind if you hold to me tightly, I was just worried for you."

"As you can see, I'm fine. Just rather embarrassed," she confessed as she tightened her grip on him. "I was hoping no one would notice."

"I doubt they will," he told her, sending her another smile over his shoulder. She nodded, her cheeks still a rosy color that only darkened when Lillian sent her a questioning look from her spot behind Fili. She'd speak with her friends when they stopped for the night, she decided then. Surely they could come up with some sort of stand in for her missing bra.

This would be, of course, after they teased her for being silly enough not to wear one in the first place.

**This is shorter than I would have liked, and not particularly one of my favorite chapters I have written, however there were questions that needed answered and transitions that needed to be made, and this chapter did that. Hopefully you enjoyed it, at least a bit. I really would enjoy if I could get more feedback on this, I'm not getting much but I truly do appreciate those of you that do review. :)**


	7. Chapter 6

It did not take Sadie long to conclude that she did not enjoy riding on the back of a horse. In fact, after only two hours of riding behind Dwalin, her body was already beginning to protest to the strenuous ride. Her thighs felt as if they had been rubbed raw and her back was sore from holding herself upright for so long. At times she had felt tempted to lean against the burly dwarf, but he had been even more cantankerous than yesterday after the rather loud and slightly frightening conversation that she had stumbled upon between him and the two brothers that morning.

By lunchtime it had only taken the dwarves a few moments to notice her wobbly legs and stiff spine as she moved. Balin, ever the practical one, had suggested that she just continue riding in the wagon as she had done the day before so that she did not become injured. With a grunt, Dwalin had agreed and she was once again placed in the wagon. This is how she found herself asleep amongst crates and chests as the wagon slowed to a stop for the night.

"Set up camp for the night." Dwalin's barked order was what had succeeded in rousing her from her slumber. Sadie ungracefully lifted herself up, peeking over the chests to find the other dwarves scrambling to follow their leader's orders. She noticed that Fili and Kili were quite careful to avoid the burlier dwarf, and it left her wondering just what their earlier conversation had been about. Unfortunately, as tempted as she was to ask about it, she knew that it was not her place to speak of it.

Sliding out of the back of the cart, Sadie stumbled about the clearing they had stopped in, trying to find Lillian and Tessa. She found her friends at the far edge of their camp surrounded by ponies. They must have decided to take on the task of looking after the ponies while the dwarves sat up camp, wanting to feel useful. By the time Sadie found them, they were unsaddling the animals and brushing them out while talking quietly to each other.

"I swear to fucking god, if Gorn makes a comment about how tight my shirt is one more fucking time-"

"If that was the worst of what he's been saying, I wouldn't be nearly as pissed," Tessa cut her friend off, her face darkened by an angry look as she tossed the saddle that she had just taken off one of the ponies to the ground. "Obviously men don't change that much between races… and, you know… worlds."

"He's only trying to get a rise out of you," Sadie spoke quietly, sitting against a tree to watch the other two work. She wasn't about to approach one of those damn ponies. She didn't trust the hungry look they had in their eyes, even if she knew they were vegetarians. She'd seen one of those suckers bite Fili earlier today.

"If he keeps it up he won't ever get a _rise_ out of himself again," Tessa threatened through gritted teeth, making Lillian giggle. Sadie smiled to herself, glad to see that they were acting normally around each other again. She knew that Lillian was still apprehensive about the whole situation, and Tessa was still oblivious, but at least it wasn't straining their friendship. All that the three of them had left was each other, petty shit like Tessa's flirting couldn't push them apart. She wouldn't let it.

"Just ignore him," Sadie advised, even as the other two scoffed.

"He's a prick Sadie, there is no ignoring him," Lillian countered, running her fingers through the manes of one of the ponies. Sadie nearly responded, but Tessa spoke first.

"He's always mean to Kili."

Sadie watched as Lillian closed her eyes in frustration, but she found herself smiling a bit. While Lillian worried about her attachment to the dwarf, Sadie found it endearing. Tessa was a distrustful, suspicious person, to see her care about someone she barely knew was promising. Perhaps her friend was going to become less harsh and allow more people in.

Or she could just be really attracted to Kili.

"Tessa," Lillian sighed, looking ready to lecture the taller girl, who was no longer so much taller. It seemed that their trip through whatever light had brought them here had scaled them down a bit. Or perhaps the people and races in this world were just taller than what they were in their old world.

"Oh don't start," Tessa scoffed, plaiting a small braid into the mane of one of the ponies. "He helped us, and he's been kind."

"Tess-"

"He's taking us back home with him," she spoke quickly, surprising both of her friends. Lillian looked as if she was about to cough from shock while Sadie simply stared. When had this happened? And how did Tessa know? "He's not going to leave us to fend for ourselves. He said we're going back to Belegost with them. He's helping us. Why do you hate him so much?"

"I don't hate him," Lillian practically spat once her surprise had worn off. They had somewhere to go? With the dwarves? And they didn't even have to ask. Maybe she and Sadie could pull off this wild plan. "I just don't think you should be throwing yourself at him-"

"I am **not** throwing myself at him," Tessa hissed, offended at the insinuation. How could Lillian, her _friend_ think that she would do something like that? She knew better! "I like his company, and I feel a sense of loyalty towards him for all that he's done."

"And you think he's cute," Sadie added with a teasing grin. Tessa narrowed her eyes at the older girl.

"Attractiveness has nothing to do with it."

Lillian coughed in response, leaving Tessa to glare at her when one of the coughs sounded suspiciously like the word 'liar.' The older girl smiled at her friends' antics. The two may nitpick at each other, but she knew that when it came down to it, they would always have each other's' backs. Which was good, they would need to soon.

Her sleep in the wagon made it difficult for Sadie to sleep soundly that night. Her attention wandered as she faded in and out of a light sleep, watching as the watchman changed each time throughout the night. She also watched as Fror, who was supposed to be watching, fell asleep and began to snore loudly against his tree.

Sadie was feeling safer by the minute.

She considered waking up one of the other dwarves, or even waking up Fror, but didn't want to incur anyone's anger. She figured that she and her friends were on thin ice with them as it was. After Tessa's confession that Kili was going to take them back to Belegost with him, she had a pretty good idea why Dwalin had exchanged words with him and his brother this morning. So she'd put the idea off, settling for just keeping a silent vigil herself.

And then she saw the shadows moving in the trees.

At first she thought she was imagining it, just paranoia tricking her into seeing moving figures. Then she saw the shadow moving into the camp, a very well-formed shadow, shaped like a man. She froze, but only for a few seconds, then the man must have stepped on a twig, because she heard the sound of wood cracking.

Tessa started beside her, eyes flying open and she was immediately alert and staring at Sadie. Sadie could do nothing but stare back, unsure of what, if anything, she could do. Tessa stayed silent for a moment, but when she heard the shuffling of the shadow, she leapt up before Sadie could stop her.

"Hey!" her loud voice shot like a gun through the silent clearing, startling most of the dwarves to a bleary attention. "The fuck are you doing?"

The shadow stopped, not even ten feet from one of the wagons, staring at the small woman who had stood up and was glaring at him. Fror finally seemed to wake up, though he was very groggy and didn't seem to understand what was going on till a large group of black shadows emerged from the woods.

"Thieves," he muttered quietly to himself, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Thieves!"

The dwarves shot into action then, clambering up and grabbing for their weapons. Tessa nudged Lillian, who was still half asleep and unaware of what was going on with her foot before leaping into the fray herself, grabbing a fallen branch on the way.

"Tessa!" Sadie yelled as she ran toward one of the shadowed figures heading near the wagons. "Get back here! You'll get yourself killed!"

"She's going to get us all killed," Lillian grumbled, lifting herself off the ground only to become tangled in her blankets when she tried to run after Tessa. She stumbled and regained her balance, but not before sending Sadie a warning glance. "Stay here."

"I'm older than you!" the disgruntled woman sputtered after Lillian, who had followed Tessa's lead and jumped into the fray. At a loss, Sadie stood back, watching the scene before her. The dwarves darted about with an agility that one wouldn't expect when looking at them, but an aggression and anger that was easily predictable.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Sadie was able to realize that the shadows she saw were men. At least, she was assuming they were men. They were taller and lither than the dwarves, but she could not bring herself to consider that they were elves. No, common robbery would certainly be too distasteful for any elf. She was able to count just under a dozen of the men, nearly twice the amount of dwarves.

Luckily, the dwarves seemed to be better trained in combat and were faring quite well. Unluckily, they were outnumbered and caught off guard. The thieves were doing their best to distract the dwarves long enough for a couple of them to sneak off to the wagon. They had not, however, been anticipating two rather angry women that would stand in their way.

No one had, for that matter.

The first man that took a run at the wagon was knocked harshly to the ground after a solid branch collided rather painfully with his stomach. He fell to the cold forest floor, staring up at the sky as he panicked, wondering just what had hit him and hoping that his breath would return soon.

Tessa stood above him, none too happy that she was being forced to deal with thieves, and completely unrepentant as she brought the branch down on the man's head, ensuring that he would be incapacitated for a bit longer.

Seeing his companion rendered unconscious, a second man strode forward, sword raised, fully intending to gut the small creature that had attacked with such boldness. Even as Sadie tried to yell out a warning, Lillian charged at the man, thrusting her shoulder into the spot between his stomach and chest and sending them both tumbling to the ground. Lillian elbowed the man in his nose as he moved to throw her off him and grabbed at the short sword in his hand. Although in pain, the man fought with her, trying to regain the upper hand, even as Lillian landed multiple blows on his face and kicking him soundly in his manhood, deciding that his height and strength advantage gave her the right to fight dirty.

A third man made a move for the wagon, leaping over Lillian and the man she was still grappling with. He was nearly to the wagon when he yelled in agony as the sound of his jaw bone cracking echoed throughout the forest. Even Sadie had winced when she witnessed Tessa using her improvised weapon as a club, taking a powerful swing that she must have learned from her years playing softball, hitting the man right on the underside of his jawbone. She wasn't sure it would ever truly heal.

The dwarves were doing quite well at subduing their opponents, most of them now left disarmed and on their backs. A few lingered, still trying to fight off the stocky dwarves that they battled, but their energy was obviously waning. These men were not warriors and had not stamina, and very little battle experience. Likely, that was why they had tried to act while the company was sleeping, knowing that dwarves were typically heavy sleepers.

They may have made off with their prize had it not been for Sadie's inability to sleep and Tessa's restless nature.

One thief, however, seemed to go unnoticed by everyone, being sure to avoid most of the fray. As Lillian leapt off of her opponent with a cry of victory, he had snuck behind her, grabbing a hold of her hair and yanking her to him before anyone had noticed.

"Lillian!" Tessa cried, gaining the attention of the dwarves as she tried to leap towards her friend. The man that held her stepped away, however, holding Lillian to him tightly and keeping a knife at her throat.

"I thought dwarves protected their women better than this?" he gloated, smirking when he noticed that the dwarves had stopped fighting. Not that there were more than one or two of his companions left standing. It mattered not, he had all the leverage he needed. If he played this right, they'd be leaving with the entire hoard, wagon and all. "Since when do you allow them to do your fighting for you?"

Tessa nearly lunged at the man when he began petting Lillian's hair, feeling the need to taunt all of them and further frighten her friend. Kili grabbed her wrist, yanking her back before she did anything rash. She was too impulsive, and if she wasn't careful she'd get her friend killed.

"We're going to take your wagon," he began with a smile, trailing a finger down the trembling girl's face as he pressed the knife into her skin a bit more. "You're going to let us have it. Along with a few of your ponies."

Sadie shivered with fear for her friend, and found her feet moving without being fully aware. Her steps were silent, but steady. She could not watch, **would not** watch, as this man hurt Lillian. She would not allow anyone to hurt either of her friends, not again.

"If you're good, we'll leave her for you to pick up in Bree," he continued with a nonchalant shrug. He'd seen the dwarf with the bow. He knew that as soon as they left he could shoot them. But not if he took something with him to insure their safety. The pretty little thing in his arms would do quite nicely for that. "She'll only be a bit worse for wear," he chuckled, enjoying the reactions this garnered. Some of the dwarves seemed annoyed, while a couple of them looked fit to be tied.

Sadie was nearly there now, eluding everyone's notice. They were too focused on the thief that was still speaking, trying to further anger the dwarves as his friends slowly began to rouse. Well, some of them. A few did not look as if they would ever rise again, while others just rolled on the ground in pain.

Dwalin cursed the damned man that was standing before him. What kind of a coward would threaten a woman for his own safety? It was bad enough that the man insisted upon taking from others rather than working, but this bastard was willing to kill an innocent woman to get away with his prize. Sometimes Men truly disgusted him.

"I would like to thank you for your cooperation. You've all been too ki-"

Words were no longer formed and a low gurgling noise took their place as blood began spurting from the man's neck where the handle of a dagger was left to stick out. The man's hold immediately loosened on Lillian, and she scurried away as fast as she could, but felt like someone had kicked her in the gut when she turned to see her savior.

Sadie stood behind the bleeding man, even as he crumpled to his feet, her face speckled with blood of the man that she had stabbed. Her chest heaved, but she didn't speak. As the shock of the scene registered on the faces of the dwarves and her friends, she was hit by the levity of the situation. She had wounded a man, with a wound that would likely lead to his death.

She had killed a man.

But she had saved Lillian. She had saved her friend. She had done what she never could before.

And she didn't regret it for a moment, even when she stared into the thief's lifeless eyes as she stepped over him.

**Holy crap, this took entirely too long to get out. Between being sick, working a lot, and having writer's block, I never thought I would get this chapter finished. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. :) The next chapter shouldn't take nearly so long to be posted. **


	8. Chapter 7

"You fucking idiots!"

The dwarves' eyes widened at the typically mild mannered woman's words as she rounded on her two friends, still covered in the bandit's blood. Her posture was stiff with anger as she stared the other two women down, and not one dwarf found himself envying them.

"You could have gotten yourselves killed!"

"Sadi-"

"I'm not done!" the suddenly fiery woman cut off Lillian, who sat back meekly and tried to decide if she had ever seen her friend this angry. "That was the stupidest, most reckless thing you've ever done, and that's saying a lot."

"Now that's just mean," Tessa muttered to herself, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Shut **up**," the angry woman hissed, her eyes seeming to be alight with fury. "You could have been killed, and I refuse to watch that happen ag-"

"We could have been killed either way," Tessa sighed, heaving herself off of the ground with only a slight wince. "What the hell do you think they would have done with us, Sadie? Patted us on the back and walked away?"

"The dwarves had it handled." Her reply was like ice, cold and harsh. It left Balin wondering exactly who these girls were, and where Sadie had learned such a regal tone. "You didn't have to help them."

"And they didn't have to help us when you were unconscious, but they did," Tessa countered, all passion and fire. The two stared each other down, neither willing to back down from their beliefs. Sadie thought the taller girl was foolish and reckless. Tessa was left wondering where her friend's loyalty and gratitude was. Lillian was left unsure of where she stood, or who she sided with. Perhaps they were both right, and neither she nor Tessa had thought through their actions very much before jumping into a battle with very little experience fighting.

"You're so stubborn and reckless! It's going to get you killed," Sadie finally huffed, breaking down a little bit as the adrenaline of the previous battle wore down. Tessa stared back, the spark still present in her eyes, but something else was found there, a longing and sadness that she had not seen in her friend for the better part of three years. "Sometimes I think you want to die."

The look that she received in return told her all too much. While she would not say it in front of the dwarves, and probably not even in front of her friends, the statement was more than clear in her eyes.

Sometimes she did.

She walked away then, unable to face Sadie's stunned look, or Lillian's look of pity. She'd rather contend with the curious stares of the dwarves. At least she was able to ignore them.

Sadie pursed her lips as she watched the brunette walk away. While it wasn't as if she'd never seen her friend behave or think this way before, that she was doing it yet again became quite startling. With one last look she knelt down next to Lillian, deciding to take a look at the cut that the thief had left on her neck as he had fallen.

"Do you think it's because she doesn't have her medication?" Lillian asked quietly as Sadie looked over her with a scrutinizing eye, checking for any injuries that she may have gotten. The same would have been done for Tessa, if Sadie had any inclination that she would have consented. As it was, asking to look her over would most likely result in her wishing to injure herself more.

"That or things had gotten worse for her at home," Sadie muttered thoughtfully, finding only a few scratches on the other woman with the exception of the rather nasty cut on her neck. "I just hope she doesn't do anything stupid."

Lillian looked up with raised eyebrows and a smirk and Sadie cracked a smile.

"Right. It's Tessa, stupid is inevitable," she sighed, wrinkling her nose. "Tilt your head back so I can get a look at this cut. I need to see how deep it is."

Sadie used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the blood away from the wound, allowing her to see it more clearly. It wasn't very large, but it was jagged, and the state of medicine here –or lack thereof- made Sadie nervous. "It doesn't seem that bad," she said thoughtfully, gently prodding the incision to make sure there was no grass or dirt in it. "Can someone pass me their water skin?" she asked without looking up. Shuffling was heard for a few seconds before Fili appeared at her side, handing her his water.

"Is she alright?" he questioned softly, running his eyes slowly over the only injured member of their company. It stung him that one of the women had been the one to get injured. Especially Lillian. She was so dainty, Fili was sure he could break her with his bare hands. But she had jumped into the fight without fear. He wasn't sure if he admired her for it, or wanted to shake some sense into her.

"She's fine," Sadie assured him with a smile, uncorking the skin and rinsing her hands. "I just want to rinse off this cut and wrap it-"

"What cut?"

Sadie cocked her head at the dwarf, wondering if he was blind. The cut on Lillian's neck wasn't small, and it was still bleeding. How could he have missed it?

"The one on her neck you…" her voice trailed to a stop as she looked back at her friend's wound, only to find that it was, in fact, not there. "What the hell," she hissed, pouring water over Lillian's neck to wash away the rest of the blood, thinking that perhaps it was hidden behind the blood again.

But it wasn't. The wound was gone. Like it had never been.

But it had to have been there, Sadie knew, that's where all the blood had come from. She glanced up at Fili, who was watching her reactions with interest. He knew something was wrong and something had startled her, but he wasn't positive what it was.

"Was there a wound there?" he asked slowly, noticing the ashen coloring of the woman's face. Sadie almost didn't answer, afraid that he would think she was insane, until she took her current situation into consideration. They were from another world, travelling with dwarves, that she had read about all through her childhood. Was it really that big of a stretch that wounds were disappearing? Or that she really could be insane?

"Yes," she finally sighed.

"You're sure?" he checked, at which point Lillian scoffed.

"I'm fucking sure. I felt the damn thing."

"Do you feel it now?" he spoke slowly, even as his lips quirked at the sassy woman. She may not be very fond of him, but he enjoyed her and her quick wit.

"No," she admitted a bit warily, rolling her neck and shoulders and turning to her friend. "It's like it was never there."

Dwalin's voice rang out before any further discussion on the subject could go on, and it was enough to startle the three young adults and send them scrambling up.

"Pack up! We're leaving for Bree now, it'll be daylight soon and there's no use in dallying."

The company remained relatively silent during their ride, and it was only when they were within a few miles of the village that conversations began to strike up. Fili and Lillian spoke in hushed tones, and Tessa noticed with amusement that they were actually speaking civilly rather than having a conversation filled with snark and sarcasm.

Tessa's body leaned limply against Kili's as they rode. Her muscles ached, but that was bearable. It was a good ache, the kind a body gained after a good work out. No, it wasn't the tired body that was causing her problems, it was her head.

The dull ache that she had been experiencing was steadily becoming sharper and more pronounced, a headache she was all too familiar with. She often got it when she couldn't afford to pay for her refill on her prescription, and it was usually enough of an incentive to send her scrambling to scrape together enough money to pay for it. The headaches were a warning of what would come next: the body aches, the shakes, the anxiety, the mood swings, and the depression.

This time there was no reprieve in sight for it either. It didn't take a rocket scientist, nor a Tolkien expert, to know that Middle Earth would not have anti-depressants.

"Are you alright?" Kili asked, noticing the lack of strength in her and feeling concerned. It left him wondering if she had been injured during the fray and kept it to herself. With her stubborn disposition, it didn't seem like an unlikely assumption.

"Just tired."

Her voice almost sounded hoarse as she spoke, giving away just how exhausted the girl must have been. He supposed that she probably hadn't done a lot of travelling before now, it probably was a tiring experience for her.

"Did you have trouble sleeping again?" he questioned, remembering the other night by the fire. Even after she had fallen asleep on his bedroll, her rest had seemed anything but restful. He had seen her toss and turn throughout the night, and more than once she had awoken when someone had moved or the fire cracked.

"Yes," she answered simply, not wanting to tell him that she had gotten no sleep at all last night. Another side effect of not having her medication.

"You could sleep until we get to Bree," he suggested, finding that he really didn't mind the idea of her resting against him.

"I'd fall off the damn horse," she huffed with a laugh. "I'll be fine. I'll just wait until tonight."

Kili didn't believe her, but chose not to say anything. He had a feeling it wouldn't do any good even if he did. When they got to the inn he could send her up to her room on some petty errand, he doubted she'd be able to resist the bed once she saw it. Instead, he broached another subject that had been bothering him.

"You really didn't have to fight those bandits," he said carefully, hoping his words wouldn't anger her. After seeing her reaction to Sadie's scolding, he wasn't sure how well she would take it. "We didn't expect it of you."

"I wanted to."

"Why?"

His question was simple, Tessa knew, but her answer was not. How could she tell him when she didn't fully understand herself?

"If something happened to any of you, and I had sat by and done nothing, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

While the answer was honest, it wasn't the whole truth. Both of them knew it, but neither chose to acknowledge it.

"You woke us up and warned us. That was more than enough."

"Not for me." Her answer left no room for argument or further questioning. This did not seem like a subject she wanted to discuss any further, and Kili decided it would be wise to let it rest. He was silent for a moment before he began to chuckle.

"Either way, I don't think that man's jaw will ever be the same," he teased, remembering how shocked he was when he had witnessed her club the man.

His grin was infections and Tessa soon found herself smiling as well. She was rather proud of her hit on that thief and found herself grateful for spending so many years playing sports. At least she wasn't completely useless and incompetent.

Despite her arguments that she would wait until nightfall to sleep, Kili soon found Tessa dozing as they neared Bree. The day was still very young and people were only just beginning to rise as they moved through the streets of the village. The quiet allowed the woman to continue sleeping, and the dwarf smiled in content.

"Is the lass faring well?" Dwalin asked as he fell back and allowed Balin to take the lead. He'd sent Fror and Gorn ahead to secure them a spot in the market before all of the good spaces were filled.

"She's fine," Kili replied quietly, worrying he would wake her if he spoke too loudly. "She hasn't been able to find rest these past nights."

"How would you know?"

The sharp question came from the small creature riding behind his brother. Kili's cheeks darkened as he debated whether it would be more embarrassing to tell her that he had asked her about it or to tell her that he had already known the answer to his question because he has been watching her.

"She's been awake during our watches," Fili supplied, sending his brother a quick wink. "Can't seem to get her to sleep."

Lillian sighed, she had hoped there wouldn't be any issues with that, it would only slow her down and make her more vulnerable. This time they were lucky and would be staying at an inn so Tessa could catch up on rest, but next time they would not be so lucky. It was not as if she could sleep upon her horse.

Yet, Lillian chided herself, she somehow was. She turned her eyes back to the slumbering woman. He cheek lay against Kili's back and through the matted mess of hair that covered much of her face, Lillian caught a glimpse of a content smile. Folowing her arms that were wound around the young dwarf, Lillian realized that Kili was only using one hand to steer the horse with the reins. His other hand was clutching both of Tessa's much daintier ones to his stomach to keep her on the horse.

For shit's sake, Lillian thought as she rolled her eyes, he is just as bad as she is.

"Fili, Kili, follow Balin to the inn," Dwalin spoke suddenly as they finally reached the market, making Lillian start a bit. "Take the lasses with you so they can bathe and rest. Ask the innkeeper for some dresses for them until we can get them traveling clothes."

"Are you growing soft Master Dwalin?" Fili teased with a cheeky grin. "Buying the ladies' clothing?"

The burly dwarf scoffed. "Fror is paying for it actually. Coming out of his payment for the journey since they seemed to do his job for him last night," he explained, even as one corner of his lips quirked into an almost approving smile. "Three slight girls proved to be more useful than a seasoned warrior."

Even as he rode away, Lillian kept watching him, feeling a bit giddy. Dwalin had always been one of her favorite dwarves, she enjoyed his grumpiness and take-no-shit attitude, and now he almost seemed to have a little bit of respect for her.

"I think you just made a powerful ally, there," Fili mused as they rode toward the inn while Sadie climbed from the wagon to ride with Balin. Usually he would be a bit annoyed to be stuck on babysitting duty, but right now he didn't mind too much. The girls were entertaining and he was a bit eager to see what they looked like underneath all of the mud and blood they seemed to be caked in. And he wouldn't turn away a mug of ale, either.

"What do you mean?" Lillian asked, even as her eyes moved around the village in an attempt to take it all in. She was in Bree, in Middle Earth! In a little over sixty years, the beginnings of the Fellowship would pass through here, starting their journey to take the Ring to Mordor. It was like she was visiting a historical site, just a little before it was historical. For the first time since she'd woken in this damn place, a wave of excitement washed over here. She was in Middle Earth, riding alongside of some of her favorite literary characters.

"Dwalin admires bravery, even if it is reckless," Fili explained, glancing back and catching her look of absolute wonder as she observed the village around them. "Loyalty as well. We all place a high value on loyalty."

Lillian nearly squealed in excitement when she realized they were staying at The Prancing Pony. A traded look with Sadie allowed her to see the same glint of excitement in her friend's eyes. For a moment she considered waking Tessa up to share the experience, but decided it was best not to. While she did know a little about the world and had watched the _Lord of the Rings_ movies, she was not as big of a fan of them as Lillian and Sadie.

Besides, she'd probably be more giddy about sleeping against Kili than she would be about The Prancing Pony.

They walked into the inn quietly, Kili carrying their sleeping companion, but both brothers froze just past the doorway. Balin simply grinned and kept walking, glad that he had managed to surprise the lads.

"You're late," a gruff voice spoke, causing a grin to grow on Fili's face. "And it looks like you've picked up some new companions."

Without having to look or ask, Lillian already knew who it was, and she was in absolute awe. No frickin' way. It was too surreal, surely she was going to wake up soon. She even pinched herself to test the theory. Yet, there she remained, staring at a legend of Middle Earth while Kili spoke a bit sheepishly.

"Hello, Uncle."

**I wound up writing most of this at work actually, and I rather like it. I'd really like some more feedback on it though. I don't have anyone that reads over these chapters before I post them, so the only feedback I'm getting is from reviews you guys post, and I only get those from a couple of people. I'd love to see some more, even if it is criticism. **

**Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm pretty excited for the next chapter so hopefully it will be up in the next few days. :)**


	9. Chapter 8

"Where's Dwalin?"

Thorin Oakenshield was even more intimidating than Lillian had ever imagined. In the books he had been portrayed as a gruff, angry dwarf with gray hair and a long, forked gray beard that he would tuck into his belt. He was supposed to be older than Balin.

Obviously Tolkien had been a bit off.

The dwarf before her either aged exceedingly well, or was a few decades Balin's junior. While there were a few silver streaks in his mane of hair, it fell in a velvety black wave down his back. Lillian spotted a couple of braids, but there was no elaborate decoration. He didn't need it. He sat with a stiff posture as his eyes looked over everything with a cold, detached curiosity, almost as if he was anticipating danger. They were quite striking, his eyes; a clear, crystalline blue color that almost seemed out-of-place with his dark, dangerous appearance. Those eyes had been made to smile, Lillian decided, though he was managing one hell of a terrifying glare at the moment.

"At the market," Kili answered, still holding Tessa as she slept. Lillian fought the urge to snicker as he shifted from one foot, then to the other. He was quite obviously uncomfortable under his uncle's unyielding stare, but he stayed put. He didn't even drop the slumbering girl as Lillian had half expected him to do. "With Fror and Gorn."

"He was supposed to meet me here when you arrived."

"Dwalin did not trust Fror and Gorn to manage the market alone," Balin explained as he took a seat near his king. "Not after last night."

"What happened last night?" Thorin's brow wrinkled in consternation and his voice sounded deadly. He'd spent the night wondering where his company had been and why they were behind scheduled, hoping that they were just running late, as had happened many times before. That didn't stop the nagging worry that he felt for his nephews and dear friends that had kept him up most of the night.

"Bandits," Balin sighed. "They attacked in the middle of the night, while we were sleeping."

"Was no one on watch?"

"Fror fell asleep," Fili grumbled, still none too happy at how things had panned out. What kind of idiot couldn't stay awake for a two-hour watch?

A wince crossed Thorin's face. He knew all too well what happened when a dwarf fell asleep on watch. "How much did they take?"

"Nothing."

Lillian smirked at the look of surprise on the regal dwarf's face. He'd obviously been expecting a large loss.

"The lasses woke us up and alerted us."

Thorin's brows raised.

"… And they helped us fight off the bandits."

Now he just looked angry, Lillian realized as his eyes hardened and she momentarily felt frightened. This was not a man… er, dwarf… that you would want find yourself on the wrong side of.

"And who are they?" His eye twitched a bit as he tried to stay calm. Anger would solve nothing at the moment and those in front of him did not deserve to be on the receiving end. They were not at fault.

"Sadie, Lillian, and Tessa," Fili answered with a smile that soon faded as his uncle stared them down. "We uh, sort of found them."

"You _found_ them?"

"They were alone in the woods, lost, and Miss Sadie was injured," Balin offered. At that, Thorin's eyes wandered to the woman who Fili had called Sadie and was rather alarmed to find her clothing, strange as it was, covered with blood.

"You are wounded?" His voice betrayed his concern. No woman should be in that shape. Where was her father? Where was her husband?

"The blood isn't mine," she answered plainly, her face betraying nothing but exhaustion.

"A bandit," Fili supplied when Thorin's face was overcome with confusion.

His face softened for just a moment before becoming unreadable once again. "Fili, Kili, take the ladies to their room," Thorin ordered with a sigh. "Then go relieve Dwalin and send him back here. I would like to speak with him."

Fili quickly lead Sadie and Lillian up the stairs of the inn while Kili lingered for a moment, even though his arms were beginning to feel stiff and heavy.

"Uncle, they have nowhere to g-"

"We'll discuss this later, Kili," Thorin spoke, cutting off his bashful looking nephew. He knew what the lad wanted; he'd seen the way he looked at the slumbering woman he held. It was not a decision to be made in haste.

Kili followed his brother up the stairs with a slight look of defeat, but did not argue, knowing it would do no good. He'd just have to wait till later to plead his case.

The bed at the inn, while not as comfortable as her bed at home, was a welcome relief after sleeping on the cold, hard ground the past two nights, Lillian thought to herself. She'd been scrubbed thoroughly in the tub by one of the maids that refused to leave until all three women had bathed and been given clothing. A shift had been thrust at her and Lillian had put it on without argument, falling ungracefully onto the bed she had been provided.

Every few minutes, Sadie would let out an indignant huff when the maid scrubbed her skin a little too hard in an attempt to get all the blood off of her. Lillian snickered every time, but barked out a laugh when Tessa yelped and swatted at the maid that was trying to comb out her hair.

"Just let me do it," she ordered grumpily, snatching the comb from the maid and shooing her away. "I'm perfectly capable of combing my own damn hair."

Tessa had been quite temperamental since she had woken up shortly after Kili had laid her down on one of the beds and left. Lillian had caught her rubbing her temples several times in the past hour. Her friend was in pain, beginning to withdraw from her medication, and it bothered Lillian that there was nothing she could do to help her.

"Are you alright Tess?" Sadie asked cautiously, just before another pitcher of water was dumped over her head, leaving her sputtering.

"I'm fine," was her mumbled response as Tessa focused on getting the comb through her hair.

"Is it your head?" Lillian asked, already knowing the answer. At Tessa's nod she sighed and turned to one of the maids. "Is there anything you can bring to sooth her headache?"

"I can bring up some willow bark tea, Miss," the lanky maid that had been combing Tessa's hair answered, popping out of the door without waiting for an order. She obviously didn't want to deal with her friend's bitchy attitude either.

"You know, I've never seen a lady dwarf before," the maid helping Sadie remarked cheerily, running her gaze over the three women quickly. "You're much prettier than I thought you would be."

"We're not dwarves," Lillian sighed, shifting a bit in discomfort. She had a feeling that this was going to become a recurring question throughout their stay in Middle Earth.

"What are you then?" The maids curiosity was obviously winning out over her manners.

"We're human… men," Sadie clarified, and then thoughtfully added, "at least I think we are."

"No, you're much too small to be human," the maid tutted, narrowing her eyes as she studied the women. "Too tall to be hobbits though, and your feet are too small," she continued. "And you say you're not dwarves… You must be half breeds. Who were your parents?"

"Oh, we, uh," Lillian stumbled, unable to make up a story quick enough for the maid's tastes.

"Bastards then," she cut her off rashly. "No wonder you don't know what you are. You don't even know who-"

"That's enough of that," a sharp voice barked from the doorway. Dwalin leant against it, watching the made with hard eyes that softened when he looked over the three girls and cast them sympathetic looks. "Their lineage is none of your concern."

The maid had the humility to look ashamed and just a little terrified as Dwalin stared at her. Dwalin was a frightening creature, especially when he was angry, but Lillian didn't feel sorry for her. She was too nosey and rather rude.

"Of course Master Dwarf," she mumbled, stepping way from Sadie's tub with red cheeks. "I'll just go fetch the ladies some food to break their fasts."

As the maid scurried off Dwalin glanced at the girls before looking to the ground to try to preserve their modesty. "I apologize for intruding, but I overheard-"

"Thank you, Dwalin," Lillian cut him off, able to see how uncomfortable he was just by his posture. The dwarf relaxed a bit, but did not avert his eyes from the ground.

"We'll be in the market for the rest of the morning, but we'll come back for lunch," he explained as he rubbed the back of his head. "Then we're taking the three of you to get some proper attire."

Bree was just as Lillian had always imagined it would be; lively, bustling, and a bit dirty. As they walked through the town she couldn't wipe the silly grin off of her face, nor could she when the seamstress was fitting them with new clothing. She even grinned when leered at by the men of the village that were much, much taller than her as they studied her in the dress that the inn keeper had given her to wear.

Apparently it belonged to the inn keeper's eleven year old daughter. It seemed to fit her in all areas but one… her chest. Typically eleven year old girls don't have much of a chest, but short, fully matured women did, and it left the three women exposing much more cleavage than they intended, or wanted.

Especially Lillian and Tessa. Though no one was really dumb enough to approach Tess about it, she was still surly enough to scare all but the bravest of people off.

And Kili. She hadn't scared Kili off yet, he was actually following her around like a besotted puppy. Lillian couldn't decide if she was amused or disgusted.

Lillian, however, must have seemed an easy target, judging by the leering looks she was given as they walked through the village. It was enough that Dwalin had eventually put her between he and Balin as they walked, glaring at anyone who got too close to them.

It almost appeared that they had been adopted by these dwarves, but Lillian knew it could not be that simple, it wasn't possible. Dwarves were suspicious and xenophobic creatures. They were not supposed to allow strangers into their midst easily. Yet… maybe that wasn't so when the stranger was a woman. It was not a topic that had been discussed much by Tolkien.

Though, Gimli did seem to become quite fond of Galadriel as soon as he laid eyes upon her. Maybe dwarves just had a soft spot for the fairer sex.

The seamstress had nearly had a fit when she found out that the dwarves wanted her to dress three women the height of children with bodies like women. She'd even threatened to charge extra for all the alterations she'd have to do, but then she caught sight of Dwalin and seemed much more compliant. Even though she was shorter than the dwarf, she was frightened of him.

The dwarves had commissioned leggings and tunics for them for traveling and then two dresses apiece as well. They were each able to leave with one pair of breeches, a camisole, a tunic, and a waist coat that seemed to be expected to suffice in the place of a bra.

It wasn't until halfway through their dinner at a tavern down the road from the Prancing Pony that Lillian felt the tingle of a vague familiarity creep up her spine. At first she brushed it off as paranoia or deja-vu, but then she spent some time staring at the walls. The familiar, white washed walls.

It was coincidence, she told herself, the walls were plain and common. It wasn't too hard to believe that her imagination had cooked up a similar image that night by the fire.

Yet, a feeling of foreboding still prickled beneath her skin.

She tried to ignore it, instead working to focus her attention on listening to Thorin and Dwalin's whispered conversation. From what she was gathering, Thorin wasn't sure they could trust her and her friends and he wasn't happy about Kili's declaration that they would be returning to the Blue Mountains with them in tow. He did have valid points. The dwarves knew nothing about them. They'd simply picked them up along the way. Women or not, they could be dangerous. And most importantly, they weren't dwarves.

Dwalin was quick to remind him of their immediate jump to aid them when the thieves attacked, however. He almost sounded like he admired them when he recounted the skirmish for his king. They're loyal, he had said with reverence.

It was then that all hell began to break loose.

A man had hovered around their table for much of the evening, sneering and making snide comments about the dwarves, but he had been ignored. It was only when Tessa went with Fili and Kili to get the table more ales that he become emboldened.

"Thought you dwarven bitches were supposed to be ugly," he proclaimed sloppily as he stepped directly in front of the three companions. Fili and Kili appeared annoyed, but were quick to brush him off. Tessa, however, did not have their patience. Her body immediately tensed and anger began to blaze in her eyes. Things were becoming entirely too familiar for Lillian, and the prickling that she had felt before was now turning into an all-out itch.

"Shit," Sadie hissed, like Lillian knowing exactly how Tessa was liable to react, but Lillian barely heard her, she was too enraptured with the scene beginning to unfold before her.

Tessa glared up at the man as she brushed stray curls out of her face with her forearm and jerked her head to throw her braid back over her shoulder. Her knuckles were white as she held onto the tankards and Lillian knew that her restraint was wearing thin. She was much more volatile without her medication, and the pains in her head only made her more surly. This would not end well.

"How much are they paying you?" the drunken man inquired, making Lillian wince even as the dwarves around her began to grumble angrily. "I'll double it. Twice the coin for twice the man."

"You're disgusting," the angered woman practically snarled, trying to shove her way past him as Kili and Fili watched warily from behind her. Lillian was surprised that they had yet to intervene at the insult to their pride and the hassling of Tessa whom they had grown particularly fond of, but she supposed that they were trying not to anger their already irritated uncle.

The man said nothing, but reached down to palm her breast with an appreciative grin. The dark look in Tessa's eyes could have burned as she dumped one of the tankards of ale she was carrying, only to crash the metal cup into the temple of the man before her with a growl and sending him staggering.

"Don't you ever touch me like that again!" she growled, her body coiled tightly and ready for a fight. The large man took a moment to regain his footing, but once he did he looked ready to tear the girl from limb to limb.

"You filthy-"

"Hey!" Kili yelled, shoving Tessa out of the way of the drunk's stump-like arm as it swung out to try to hit her. Lillian's eyes widened as he caught the brunt of the hit with his shoulder, but she couldn't help but be grateful that he had spared her friend the punch. While it may have bruised Kili, he was much stronger and sturdier than Tessa was, that punch likely could have sent her sprawling to the ground. "You need to leave."

"What's wrong dwarf?" the man chuckled, still glaring at Tessa even as Fili tried to drag her back to the table. "Did I upset your whore?"

"Do not call her that," the young dwarf growled as his hand inched toward his sword. The man stalked toward him, grinning manically even as the other dwarves at the table stood up, poising themselves for the fight that seemed imminent.

Damn Tessa and her penchant for trouble, Lillian thought to herself.

"Keep the wench. Wouldn't want to taint myself with a dwarven harlot anyway," he chuckled, his lip curling as he stared down at Kili. "Don't know why you vermin bother to come here. Ought to just stay up in your mountains away-"

"Would you shut the fuck up!" Tessa growled, pulling herself away from Fili and charging at the man. "You're intentionally causing problems, harassing us, and insulting me. You're nothing but a pathetic drunk! Just fucking leave!"

Lillian almost missed the bemused look that Dwalin and Thorin shared.

"A whore's mouth shouldn't be used for talking, it should be-"

Tessa almost sounded feral as she growled and shoved the man, enough so that Lillian shivered. It had been a long time since her friend had been this angry, she'd almost forgotten how frightening it could be.

The angered girl shoved the man with enough force to send even her stumbling as the man back pedaled, trying desperately to regain his footing before he wound up on his ass in the blazing hearth. Even he seemed a bit startled at the fury that the small woman was displaying as she practically trembled with rage. He was able to catch himself on the end of a table, less than a foot away from the hearth, and sighed in relief.

His relief, however, was short-lived as the fired popped and the blaze briefly jumped out of its stone walls as a knot in the wood exploded. He howled in surprise and fear as it caught the back of his tunic, sending the ends of it alight as he leaped to and fro, begging for someone to put it out.

It was only a small fire, really, but it was enough to scare the daylights out of the previously brave man, and more than enough to put a smile on the faces of the dwarves and their female companions.

"If they come with us," Lillian heard Thorin say as the rest of the company began to laugh. "They'll be your responsibility, Dwalin."

"They're not pets, my friend," the tattooed dwarf responded with an amused grin.

"No, but they'll be your wards."

For a moment Dwalin seemed conflicted, and Lillian couldn't blame him. Taking on three women who seemed to be nothing but trouble? Hell, she wouldn't do it. But then he looked up, and caught her watching them. He held her gaze for a few seconds before turning to his childhood friend and nodding.

"So be it."

**Sorry that took so long guys! I had a lot of shit going on, and because of the storms we've had lately I've been without internet quite a bit. I'm actually using my phone as a personal hotspot to upload this now, because I figure you've waited long enough! **

**So yeah... some important stuff occurred in this chapter. Hopefully you guys picked up on all of it. If not... I suppose it will come back into play later. :) I tried sticking to just one person's point of view in this chapter, hopefully it helped ease some of the confusion. **

**Let me know what you thought! Is there something you don't understand? Or something I could do better? I love constructive criticism, so thanks for the reviews you've given me already and I do look forward to some more. :)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry this took me so long to get out! Things got crazy there for a while, and then I got major writer's block. But, alas, I now have a new chapter for you. I do not have a beta for this story, and one would be nice, so if you're interested send me a message. A guest asked me in a comment on the last chapter if I had a tumblr, and I actually DO have one, thewaytheworld-ends. Feel free to follow me, I love new followers. If I find out any of you are actually following me, especially if you're following me because of this, I may be coaxed into making a tumblr just for this story. Just an idea.**

**Some things are starting to come to light in this chapter, slowly. I'm really interested in everyone's thoughts and feelings. What do you think is going on? What do you think is going to happen? All that good stuff. So review and let me know. :)**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

Tessa winced as Sadie dabbed a wine soaked rag onto her scraped elbow, but soon began scowling as her friend continued to lecture her.

"Do you realize how stupid that was? I cannot believe you! You started a bar fight-"

"You're acting like this is the first time this has happened," she drawled in a bored voice, gingerly touching her split bottom lip and wrinkling her nose in disdain when she saw that it was still bleeding. Fantastic.

"With a man! Multiple men!" Sadie quickly corrected, swatting Tessa's hand away to dab at her lip with the rag. She was about to get on a roll, and she'd go all night with the lecturing if Tessa didn't head her off or manage to distract her soon.

"Again, nothing new," the bruised and battered woman scoffed. "Though I've never come out of it quite this badly."

"That's because they were your size before!" Sadie huffed in exasperation and looking to Lillian for support. The smaller girl was practically shaking in laughter, even as she cleaned the small cut on Fili's head. "And it would have been worse if Fili and Kili hadn't jumped in to save your ass."

"I had it handled."

"You most certainly did not," Kili huffed from his chair, glaring at the obstinate woman with his eye that wasn't swollen shut. Tessa knew he was angry and she really couldn't blame him. It seemed like the whole ordeal with the drunkard had been done and over with after his tunic had caught fire, but then the man had begun to run his mouth again. When he'd started talking about Sadie and Lil, she had lost it, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, Fili and Kili truly had saved her from a rather thorough beating. Judging by the dark looks on Thorin and Dwalin's faces, she may have gotten them into trouble as well. "What were you thinking? Do you know how badly you could have been hurt? What he could have done to you?"

"He called Sadie and Lillian-"

"I know what he called them," he cut her off. "We were going to handle it."

"They're _my_ friends, I could handle it," she argued, grimacing at the taste of the blood leaking from her lip. She honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had busted her lip, it had to have been in her childhood.

"You're a woman," Fror stated, gazing at the strange creature before him in confusion. He'd made no effort to hide his amusement at the whole situation. Tessa figured it was because it took the heat off of him for falling asleep on watch.

She shrugged in response, unsure of why her sex should matter.

"You got yourself hurt, lass," Balin explained gently, glancing at Thorin who remained stoic as he observed.

"So?" she couldn't understand the significance. She'd have a few bruises and a swollen lip, but nothing too bad. She'd had worse, much worse, and to be honest the throbbing in her elbow and soreness in the rest of her body was helping to mask the sharp pain in her head at the moment.

"You're bleeding!" Kili practically screeched, quickly becoming even more frustrated when she began to laugh. "Why are you laughing? Have you lost your sense?"

"She never had any," Lillian added gleefully under her breath, causing Fili to grin while Tessa scowled.

"It's not even that bad, Kili. I've had worse." Tessa had through her worse would console him, that's what she had intended anyway. Instead, his face reddened and he began sputtering angrily. "Besides, my head hurts worse than my bruises," she added quickly, hoping to settle him down. All she succeeded in doing was getting everyone else worked up as well, and she knew it as soon as she saw Sadie roll her eyes.

"What do you _mean_ you've had worse? How could you have-"

"Your head? What's wrong with your head?"

"Was it from the bandits?"

"What kind of place let's a woman fight and-"

Her headache sharpened dramatically as all of the dwarves began talking over each other seemingly gaining volume with each question asked. Lillian and Sadie immediately began trying to quiet the rowdy males, but they were ignored. The idea that a female had gotten herself into situations like this on more than one occasion was not one that sat well with them. The only one who stayed silent was Thorin, who watched everything unfold with interest and mild annoyance, his eyes not missing a thing.

"See what you did?" Lillian groaned at Tessa, whose face had paled as she began clutching her head. _God_, she thought_, It feels like something is breaking in there._

"Make them stop," she practically pleaded, resorting to covering her ears to try to block out the sound. "Why are they so loud?"

"They're dwarves," Sadie huffed, narrowing her eyes at the yelling males, particularly Gorn, who had begun to shove Fili. Tessa wasn't even sure what they were all yelling about at this point, but she didn't think it was still her. All that she cared about was that they stopped yelling so her head would stop feeling like it was splitting.

"Please stop," she managed to croak. The room was starting to seem brighter and it hurt her eyes. She was getting a migraine, and the noise was only hurrying it along. "Stop," she repeated, but like the first time, no one listened. Instead, they got louder yet. Fucking dwarves! Why can't they just shut up! There was so much yelling and arguing and it was becoming entirely too familiar and painful.

As their voices and her desperation seemed to crescendo, the fire roared in the hearth and she dug the palm of her hands into her eyes as Thorin spoke above everyone.

"Quiet!"

The yelling died down immediately as eyes turned to their leader, then to the shaking girl perched on one of the beds in the room. Gone was the stubborn thing that had sat before them and argued before, left behind was a quivering girl.

"She's in pain," Thorin stated, looking to Sadie who was gazing at her friend in pity. "Why?"

"She's withdrawing. She's sick," she clarified when they stared blankly at her. They didn't know what withdrawls were, they didn't have them here. They didn't have drugs here.

"What does she need?" Balin asked calmly, carefully setting a hand on the girl's shoulder as she stopped shaking.

"Nothing," Tessa mumbled, knowing that the only thing that would help was unobtainable.

"She has to work through it," Sadie explained. "It'll go away on its own eventually."

"And nothing helps?" Kili questioned, sounding a bit pitiful. "Nothing at all?"

"She can sleep some of it off," Sadie suggested with a shrug as she motioned for Kili to sit down so she could look at his eye. "But whatever the maid gave her for her headache earlier really didn't help."

"I'll be fine," Tessa assured when she brought her head up, her smile just as weak as her voice. "It's no big deal. It's happened before."

Lillian scoffed, but said nothing when Tessa show her a warning looked. She already knew what she would have said. Tessa may have done this before, but never for more than a couple of days. She'd never gone completely without her medication.

"Let me look at your eye, Kili, I want to make sure there is no fracture," Sadie sighed, grateful that the dwarves had finally quieted down again. At his questioning look, she clarified, "A crack in the bone."

"No need to worry about that, Miss Sadie, we dwarfs have sturdy bones," he smiled. A stern look from Sadie, however, saw the grin fall and the young dwarf meekly move to the chair in front of the nurse. Tessa snorted to herself, glad that she wasn't the only one intimidated by Sadie's scolding looks. "it really isn't-"

"Just let her do it, Kili," Tessa advised when she caught the scathing look on her friend's face. Sadie, it seemed, had no more patience left tonight and it would be best for all if the rest of the night went smoothly. He huffed, but listened to her, even as their other male companions chuckled and Lillian blatantly giggled. Kili's face reddened as Sadie began poking and prodding around his swollen eye, his only visible eye darkening when his brother began to tease him.

"Black eye too much for you to handle, Kee?" he goaded, grinning even wider when he heard Lillian titter next to him. "Maybe if you- OW!"

"Shut up," Tessa barked as the blond dwarf clutched his eye and glared at the spare candle that she had thrown at him. She hadn't thrown it too hard, he was just surprised that he had been caught off guard. "Or I'll give you one too match."

Lillian guffawed then, as did Fror and Gorn, but Sadie was wholly unimpressed. "Behave," she ordered without turning to look at Tessa. The brunette rolled her eyes and turned to tell the older girl to mind her own business, but instead found her breath taken from her lungs and her eyes wide in shock.

"Lil," she croaked out, pointing at Kili's injured eye. Where it had once been swollen to the size of half of a softball and a deep violent shard of purple, it was now nearly its normal size with only light shades of blue and yellow bruising surrounding it.

"Holy shit," the petite woman breathed, drawing the attention of the dwarves and Sadie. The nurse had not been paying attention to what she had been doing as she felt along Kili's cheekbone and orbital bone, but when she saw the sudden, dramatic change in the injury, she jerked her hand away and looked at everyone else with fearful eyes.

"What have you done?" Thorin's voice was quiet, but it carried with it a subtle note of warning and protectiveness. Sadie stepped away from Kili, who looked positively lost with the whole situation, allowing Thorin and Balin to take her place and look him over.

"I don't know," she nearly whimpered, frightened not only by what had just happened, but also by the possible reactions of the surly King. "I've never done that before."

"You did it with Lillian," Fili spoke up, keeping his eyes on his brother but not hovering fearfully around him like his uncle was. "In the woods, after the thieves… you healed one of her cuts."

"But I'd never done it before then! I don't even know how I did it," she defended, stumbling over her words when met with the hard stare of the dwarves. "I promise I didn't-"

"Remarkable," Balin interrupted, looking away from Kili and smiling approvingly at Sadie. "You got rid of nearly all of the bruising, lass."

"How?" Thorin demanded, even as Kili snuck away from him and planted himself next to Tessa with a sheepish smile. All of the scrutiny and activity was making him anxious, she seemed to settle him back down.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, her voice a bit braver after Balin's reassuring smile.

"What are you?" he asked instead, running a scrutinizing stare over all three of the women in the room.

With a defeated sigh and a shrug Sadie replied, "I'm not sure I know that anymore either."

It was in that moment that Thorin came to a decision, as much as he loathed to act on it. "Balin… Send a raven to the Gray Wizard."

The entire inn was silent when Tessa crept out of the room she was sharing with Sadie and Lillian that night. Everyone had fallen asleep hours ago, but the nagging pain thrumming through her head would not allow her to find rest.

She moved silently, despite the ache in her joints stilting her movements. She needed to move around, lying in bed was only making her feel worse. She knew she wouldn't find any rest until she totally exhausted herself. Only then could she forget about the aches and dark thoughts long enough to sleep.

"You should be sleeping."

Tessa jumped and held a hand to her hammering heart as she glared down at Fili who sat leaning against the wall halfway between her room and the room the dwarves shared.

"So should you" she whispered in reply, narrowing her eyes as he grinned.

"I'm on watch," he informed her, continuing when she frowned. "Some men aren't fond of dwarves, even more so now that you've incited fights with them. Have to make sure no one attacks us while we're sleeping."

"I did not incite-" she ut herself off when she saw his grin broaden and his eyes light up in amusement. "You're teasing me," she accused, huffing when he chuckled. "Ass."

"So why are you still awake?" he questioned, patting the spot beside him and encouraging her to sit. This was slowly becoming a nightly ritual. Tessa always seemed to be awake until he and Kili were on watch, and she'd often spend it talking to them until she finally lulled into a slumber.

"Lily snores," she answered in a monotone.

"Liar," he smirked. Tessa smiled and shrugged, but offered no other answer, instead playing with the skirt of her shift. Were he a lesser dwarf, he'd certainly be taking advantage of a women wearing so little before him. "You're going to make Kili lose even more of his senses if you keep doing that."

"Doing what?" she asked innocently, blinking up at the dwarf as he watched her.

"Wearing your small clothes around us."

"This is a nightgown," she scoffed, wondering why her clothing choices should have any effect on Kili, or anyone for that matter.

"It's a shift," he corrected, avoiding looking at the offending garment as he spoke. "And you shouldn't be out of your room without a dress over it."

The snort he got in response was quite rude and slightly masculine. Almost dwarf-like really.

"Too damn hot for a dress. You trying wearing one in this heat."

"I think I'd look rather dashing in it, don't you?"

Tessa couldn't keep a straight face when he winked at her and erupted into giggles, stopping only when the door to the right of them opened.

"Fili?" a sleepy looking Kili spoke as he shuffled out of the room and into the hallway. "You can go sleep, it's my watch," he yawned, moving his eyes to Tessa. "Can't sleep?"

"Can I ever?" she smiled weakly as Fili heaved himself off the ground and clasped his brother's shoulder and sharing a smile with him.

"Try to get some sleep," he advised her before disappearing behind the door, leaving Kili and Tessa alone in the dark corridor.

Kili stood awkwardly for a moment before settling himself next to Tessa on the floor, making sure to leave an appropriate amount of space between the two of them.

"Is your head still bothering you?" he asked after a moment, chancing a shy look at her. She was fidgeting and had a small grimace on her face as she stared blankly at the opposite wall.

"A little," she confessed quietly, "But it's not that bad."

"If it wasn't bad, you would be asleep," he countered, fixing her with a hard stare. She would try her best not to seem weak in front of everyone, but he knew something wasn't right with her, and he was not allowing her to get away with pretending.

"the headache isn't really _that_ bad, it's just constant," she confessed quietly. "It's the things that come with it…"

"Like what?" He was interested, she knew. As far as she could tell, they had nothing comparable to anti-depressant withdrawals here, it was only normal that he would be curious about it.

"My body kind of hurts," she explained with a shrug, flexing her hand as if to show him. "Mostly in the joints. I'm tired, but too restless to fall asleep. I'm irritable-"

"Really?" he interrupted with a snicker, "I hadn't noticed."

"Don't interrupt," she playfully scolded, slapping his shoulder to drive the point home, even though she found his smile quite infectious. "It's the thoughts that get me though."

"What do you mean? What thoughts?"

"Just… dark thoughts, about myself. It's why I was on the medicine that's making me sick to begin with, to make those thoughts stop. Now that I can't take the medicine, they've started to come back."

"What kinds of thoughts?"

Tessa frowned. How do you explain depression to someone that has never experienced it, seen it, or even heard of it? How could she make him understand?"

"It starts with me not liking myself," she began warily. "I second guess what I do and say. Then I start thinking there's no way anyone else could like me, that I don't belong, and that I'm not wanted."

"And then?" he prompted when she paused.

"I start to think it would be better if I wasn't around. I start hating myself and feeling disgusted with myself, all the time. Because I'm not a good person, and no one _really_ likes me, let alone **loves** me enough to give a damn. That maybe it would be better if I just disappeared… or died," she swallowed, purposely avoiding Kili's gaze as it raked over her intrusively. Why did it always seem like she felt his stares, right down to her bones? She squirmed next to him, not wholly comfortable with what she was divulging, but finding herself unable to stop. "Then I start thinking about how I could do it. How I _would_ do it. And then…"

She couldn't finish, but he didn't really need her to. He didn't _want_ her to. While he knew where it was going, he was sure that hearing her say it would make him physically sick.

"Why? Why would you want to do _that_ to yourself?" The entire concept was so foreign to him that he couldn't fully grasp it, just like she had known would happen.

"Because I get tired of feeling alone and hated. Because after a while, it just hurts too much to live," her voice broke as she remembered how bad it had been before, and how bad it very well could become again. The scariest part was that this time, she wouldn't even have her family aroud to give what little support they had last time. Other than Sadie and Lillian, who were bound to adapt to this world much better than she could ever hope to, she was alone.

"So where are your thoughts now?" he asked cautiously, a bit surprised when she finally turned her head to look at him and he caught sight of her tears.

"I'm scared."

The words sat heavily in the air as neither one of them spoke. Kili was stunned that those words had left her mouth. The girl seemed fearless to him, he'd yet to see her balk or back down from anything. But ehre she was, telling him about her greatest weakness and revealing that she was, indeed, scared of something.

Herself.

"I'm scared I'm going to be like that again." Her voice was wavering as she wiped frantically at her eyes. "That maybe I'm right."

"You're not." He sounded appalled that she had even considered it. "Sadie and Lillian love you-"

"I annoy them," she scoffed.

"So? Fili annoys me all the time, and I still love him," he shrugged. "And I know Thorin is annoyed with Fee and I more often than not, but that doesn't mean he loves us any less. It's much easier to get annoyed at someone you love."

Tessa's smile was watery, but she was unable to resist when he gave her one of his toothy, goofy grins. How he was able to make her smile even through her tears was beyond her, but she had to admit she liked it, even as she called herself stupid for it. If she wasn't careful, she'd get too attached.

"And," he began, drawing out the word as he timidly grabbed her hand and studied it for a moment before lacing his fingers between hers. "I will not let you get to that point."

The sentiment in his words made her heart falter. Why would he say that? Why would he even _care_? Maybe he really didn't, but the fact that he would even pretend to give a damn made her stomach flutter.

"You can't pro-"

"I wouldn't advise telling me I can't do something." His voice and his smile were both teasing. "Last time that happened, Gorn told me I'd never been an archer."

"And are you?" she questioned, amusement sneaking into her voice even as she wiped away her tears.

"Best damn archer you'll ever meet," he stated proudly before boldly kissing the back of her hand without releasing it.

The fluttering in her stomach suddenly made her feel sick.

Yes, she decided, I'm definitely too attached.


	11. Chapter 10

_Dark hair fell over the broad man's shoulder as the woman in his arms once again tensed in pain, muffling her screams through clenched teeth. He braced his long legs on each side of her body carefully, trying to hold her in place as she writhed without causing her more pain. The last thing he ever wanted was to cause her pain._

_"It will be over soon," he assured her, his voice a low rumble that only she could hear as he brushed her sweat soaked hair out of her face. She buried her face in his neck, taking a deep breath in hopes that the scent of him, hay and mint, would mask the coppery smell of blood that seemed to surround them._

_"It hurts," she saidweakly, taking a ragged breath when hit with another wave of pain. His gut tightened at her admission, even though he already knew she was in pain. He could remember her saying it only once before. Shehad made her pain known, yes. She would scream or flinch, like any other person, but she didn't actively articulateher pain. _

_"I know. I know it does," he soothed, rubbing his hands up and down her arms, trying to coax her into relaxing her body a bit. "But you are nearly done, my love. It is nearly over."_

_Her eyes searched his, bleary with pain and exhaustion, trying to find the strength to continue on. He was right, it was nearly over, but the worst was yet to come. They both knew that. "I love you," he spoke instead, hoping that his words would give her the assurance she needed. "You can do this. You are strong. You are brave. You are a warrior. Just keep fighting, it is almost over."_

_"I'm so tired."_

_Her whimpered confession tore at him, causing him to hold her a little more tightly than before. She felt so fragile in his arms now, like she would break if he held her too tightly. He had never felt this way before._ _She'd always seemed strong and capable, not delicate and desperate as she did now. He wanted to tell her to rest, to sleep until it was over. But he couldn't. She couldn't._

_"You must stay awake. Just a bit longer."_

_"I don't know if I can. E-"_

_"You must," he interrupted, trailing his hands down her arms until he could grasp her hands in his and squeeze them lightly. "You cannot sleep yet."_

_"I'm scared," she whispered, her words only for him. Her hands trembled in his as her skin began to pale even more. She was not well, not in the least._

_"Do not be scared. I am here, and I will stay here until it is over. I love you," he repeated._

_"My Lord, My Lady," the healer spoke, pulling his blade from the fire with a determined face, "It is time." _

_He grimaced, trying to brace himself for the pain she would be facing. He had to keep a brave face, for her. Seeing his worry would only frighten her. He felt her chest expand against him as she took a deep, steadying breath._

_He let her dig her nails into his arms and tried to ignore the painful twist in his heart as she screamed._

"Lily! Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?"

Lillian jumped when Sadie's voice invaded the dream that had clouded her mind. Or was it a dream? Surely she hadn't fallen asleep against a well, not that quickly. But then, if it wasn't a dream, what had it been? An overactive imagination? She hadn't dealt with that since she was a child.

"What?" the petite girl mumbled, shaking the cloudy feeling from her head as she looked to Sadie. Her friend scowled and impatiently brushed her wheat colored hair out of her face before lowering the bucket into the well. They'd been sent to fetch water for the dwarves. Some of them, such as Fror and Balin, were minding the wagon at the market. Others, such as Thorin, his nephews and occasionally Dwalin, were working in one of the smithies in Bree taking commissions, deciding to try to make more profit while they waited for Gandalf to reply to the message Balin had sent to him.

If he replied.

"I've been talking to you for like… two minutes… and you were just staring into the water," she huffed in exasperation. "You could get that other bucket and help, you know." She nodded at the bucket by Lillian's feet and raised her eyebrows. Jerking in surprise, Lillian bent down and picked it up, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Sorry," she mumbled quickly, picking up the bucket only to drop it with fumbling hands. "Sorry. I just thought I saw something."

Sadie snorted. "You did." She smirked at Lillian's surprised look. "A lot of stinking water."

"Yeah, that was it," the brunette laughed as she rolled her eyes, thinking that surely that had to have been all. Why she had imagined the scene she had, she didn't know. She'd never met anyone involved before, never seen them. They were totally new people. But yet, the man had caused her to feel a tug of familiarity. Strange.

Her mind was obviously playing tricks on her.

"What were you talking about, anyway?" she asked after a moment of silence. Sadie sighed as she began pulling her bucket back up.

"I was asking if you knew how late Kili brought Tessa in last night."

Lillian frowned, trying to remember. The past three nights that they had been in Bree, their friend had waited until they were asleep at night and then snuck out of the room to sit with the dwarves on watch. Yet every night, sure enough, Kili would bring her back in in the early hours and lay her down on her bed, already fast asleep. While Lillian did worry about her friend and her lack of ability to sleep at night, she had to admit that she was grateful that she no longer woke up multiple times during the night due to her friend's restless tossing and turning.

"The sun was starting to come up, I think," she answered, glancing up at the sky to try to gauge the time now. The sun wasn't centered in the sky, but close. It was nearly noon. Time for the dwarves to take a break and eat lunch with them. "She'll probably be awake by the time we get back to the Inn."

"If not, I'm sure someone will wake her up," Sadie shrugged. Lillian thought of Fili waking her up yesterday by pelting her with small stones and smiled. Sadie was right, if she wasn't awake yet, she would be very soon.

"How long do you think we'll stay here? In Bree, I mean?"

"Probably until Gandalf gets here," Lillian said thoughtfully as she began drawing her bucket back up.

"If he comes."

"He'll come," Lillian assured her, letting out a grateful puff of breath when the bucket was within reach. She had severely underestimated how heavy a bucket full of water could be. Though, if she kept doing chores like this, she'd get some awesome muscles.

"How can you know that?" Sadie didn't believe her. Lillian could hear it in her voice. The lack of control of their situation had her feeling frustrated and scared. Sadie wasn't used to not having a plan to implement into action, and while the two of them had somewhat of a plan for their future, it was not nearly solid enough for Sadie's comfort. And they really had no idea whether or not it would work.

"He's got to meet with Thorin sometime," she shrugged nonchalantly, even as a voice in her head chided her for not telling the whole story. She knew because she felt it, because she'd heard it.

"Hopefully it's soon," Sadie continued with a small smile, hefting her bucket of water as the two began to make their way back to the forge. "I'm getting tired of the people here staring at us like we're some sort of circus freaks."

Lillian chuckled a bit. The stares of the people of Bree didn't leave her feeling as unnerved as they did Sadie, but she could still understand what she meant. No one was quite sure what they were, so they weren't sure how to treat them. And the girls couldn't offer any explanations even if they wanted to.

The walk back to the forge was long and tedious as the day began to heat up from the strength of the sun. The two women lost a fair amount of their water, as well, due to taller and broader people bumping into them and shoving them out of their way. While it irritated Lillian a great deal, she found herself glad that she was with Sadie and not Tessa. Knowing Tess, she would have hauled off and hit someone by now. That was something they certainly didn't need.

"Finally back, are you?" Kili teased as they approached the sweltering forge. Lillian's nose wrinkled as she caught a whiff of the sweaty dwarves. They'd certainly better wash up before eating lunch, unless they felt like eating in the damned forge.

"Sorry, someone got caught up day dreaming," Sadie smiled, passing her bucket to Kili and shrugging when he raised his eyebrows as he noticed the bucket was only half full.

"Shut up," Lillian muttered, plopping her significantly more full bucket onto a table and frowning. The bottom of her dress was soaked and her arms hurt now, not a very good start to her afternoon.

"S'alright, Miss Lillian, nothing wrong with daydreaming," Fili grinned, lifting his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face as he approached. "I'd be thinking about me too, if I were you."

She scoffed, unsure of whether she wanted to roll her eyes at his arrogance or laugh at the goofy look on his face, which seemed to be a common theme with Fili. She just couldn't decide whether he amused her or annoyed her.

"I couldn't resist when I saw the water," she sighed, deciding to play along. "I couldn't help but imagine you bathing."

"Did you, now?" he smirked, bracing his arms on the table to watch her.

"Yes. It'd be so nice to not have to smell your stench for once."

Kili guffawed and patted Fili on his shoulder, even as he grinned at Lillian despite her insult. Sadie simply shook her head at their antics, apparently deciding to take the higher road and not involve herself in the childish bickering.

"Still, you were thinking of me naked," he winked. Thorin joined them then, causing both of his nephews to straighten up their posture and stand at attention. Lillian found it sweet how much they looked up to Thorin, but part of her worried they did so a little too much. Idolizing someone too much can easily become detrimental.

"Clean yourselves up," he told them simply and immediately both of the younger dwarves complied. Lillian decided she needed to learn how he did that. "How is your friend faring?" he questioned, though the question was aimed at Sadie, who he had apparently decided had the most medical knowledge.

"She's still not sleeping right, but her appetite is starting to come back. Her headaches aren't getting any worse," Sadie explained thoughtfully. "Within a few days she will be fine to travel."

Thorin nodded, mulling this information in his head for a moment before speaking again. "If we have heard nothing from the wizard by the end of the week, we will set out for the Blue Mountains. I grow weary of this town."

"You and me both," Lillian practically groaned. At first she had been quite excited to be in Bree, but the novelty had quickly worn off. The place was loud and smelly and entirely too tall for her. She'd feel much better when she was once again in most of the population's line of sight.

The people of Bree gave the girls a wide berth when they were traveling with the dwarves. While on the way to the forge from the well they had nearly been trampled, on the way to the Inn from the forge most of the men would hardly chance glancing at them, let alone walking in their path. There truly seemed to be some racial stigmas going on in this place, and it bothered Lillian.

The dining room of the Inn was stuffy, but significantly cooler than the forge had been, and Lillian felt herself relaxing as she sat down next to the heirs of Durin while Sadie went to wake Tessa. She was just shaking the knots out of her shoulders when Balin and Dwalin barged through the doorway, looking a bit grim. All Thorin had to do to get an explanation from them was raise his eyebrows.

"A message from the Gray Wizard," Dwalin explained, giving Lillian a cautious look that left her confused.

"He will arrive in two days."

* * *

**It has been entirely too long since I posted a new chapter of this. I got rather stuck on it for a while, but now I think I know what direction I'm heading. That direction will also include a story that takes place about 60 years in the future and possibly one that takes place about 200 years or more in the past. I'm just not sure if anyone would actually be interested in reading either one of them. **

**I'd like to thank ****SGod**** for reading over this chapter and betaing for me. Trust me, this reads much better after she went through it. Much better. **

**Here's to hoping it doesn't take me 45 more days to get the next chapter out! **


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